What Should I Do After Windows Vista Support Ends?

Yes, that question must have crossed the minds of millions of people who were still using their Windows Vista computers all these years and are now, after Microsoft has finally ended all the support for Windows Vista, are getting ready to buy a new computer and throw the old one in the dumpster. Well, if you have been using the Windows Vista from around the year 2007-2008 then possibly your computer’s hardware is pretty old. In that case, you should definitely invest in some new computers. But if you are low on funds and a new computer is not fitting your budget then you can keep using your old computer by upgrading the software.

Windows Vista Support Ends

In general, Vista users have only two options if they want to use their old computer:

1. Upgrade to Windows 10

Upgrading to the latest version of Windows is always an option, but you have to think about the supported hardware as well as the total cost too. For upgrading to Windows 10, you will have to replace some of the hardware too with much newer hardware so that Windows can give good performance. This might mean upgrading the motherboard, RAM or hard disk drives or solid state drives

2. Switch to Linux

If you cannot afford or or do not want to upgrade your computer to a recent version of Windows, then you can start using Linux that can run on older computers. Lubuntu runs on older computers and can be used using a bootable CD or USB disk. You can also use LXLE Desktop Linux which is based on Ubuntu Linux and is specially designed for older computers.

2. Use Linux with Windows in dual boot mode

Yes, if you cannot stop using Vista because you have become so familiar with it and still want a secure OS, then you can use Windows and Linux in dual boot mode. In this mode, you install Linux alongside Windows and you can pick one of the operating systems that you want to use as the computer boots.

The other options are obviously to buy a new computer with either Linux or Windows pre-installed.