Hartland Computer Services

𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗼𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵

Six weeks after the “end” of Windows 10 in October, we are still daily fielding questions about it so I’ve decided to describe what I’m personally doing in my house about it.

𝗗𝗮𝗱
I have 4 computers assigned to me: a Windows desktop (also used for work), a Windows laptop, an Apple MacBook Air, and a Linux desktop (mostly used for work). Here’s my plan:

• 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗸𝘁𝗼𝗽 – Stay on Windows 10 until October 2026, enrol in Microsoft Extended Update Program for Windows 10
• 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗼𝗽 – Ditto
• 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 – Move most of my personal computing to this platform
• 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘅 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗸𝘁𝗼𝗽 – Stay the course, use for special projects only

𝗠𝗼𝗺
Mom has a really nice Lenovo ThinkPad that cannot be upgraded to Windows 11; this machine will go on the Extended Update Program and probably remain in service until October 2026 running Windows 10.

However, Mom does the books. For reasons that I suspect are a result of conspiracy rather than technical or security issues, TurboTax, Quicken, and QuickBooks will no longer support Windows 10. It’s not clear how this will play out, but Mom probably needs access to Windows 11 to install TurboTax for the coming tax season. My original plan was to upgrade Mom to a new computer with Windows 11 on it, but that means I would have to support this ridiculously unstable, insecure, and moving-in-the-wrong-direction OS. So instead, I’ve decided to roll out a temporary Windows 11 computer on which we’ll install Windows 11 and TurboTax, with the expectation of wiping the whole thing later.

𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗿
No change. This is MacBook Air.

𝗠𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗿
No change. Hand-me-down MacBook.

I think with AI entering the chat, we are moving into a space where it’s going to become impossible to know what’s happening on your computer, what data is private (probably none), and just what and how information is being exfiltrated. I believe that the big IT companies are currently foisting retrograde encryption and VPNs on us because these give us the appearance of security while still leaving all our data and behaviors available for them to harvest.

The good news is that it’s probably too late to do anything about this and any effort now is just closing the barn door after the cows get out. But St. Jude and I have always had a close relationship, so I’ll keep trying.

At $599 we think this is a very good replacement for an old Windows computer that needs upgrading. Your software won't move over and there is some adaptation to the MacOS from Windows so it might not be for everybody, but it is definitely worth considering.

Mac mini The new, smaller Mac mini with the M4 or M4 Pro chip. Built for Apple Intelligence. Now with front and back ports. And the first carbon neutral Mac.