XPost: uk.d-i-y   
   From: see.my.signature@nowhere.null   
      
   On 27/03/2025 08:28, Jeff Gaines wrote:   
   > On 27/03/2025 in message  Lawrence   
   > D'Oliveiro wrote:   
   >   
   >> On Wed, 26 Mar 2025 19:02:39 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> Well I have had pretty good results for MY needs with HP laptops BUT   
   >>> anything to run Windows 11 seems very expensive. Like £400   
   >>>   
   >>> Whereas a Windows ten capable refurbished is under £100   
   >>   
   >> Would you entrust mission-critical business operations to obsolete,   
   >> unsupported software?   
   >   
   > I use Windows 8.1 on all my machines that will run it because it allows   
   > me to download updates and install them when convenient to me. Why this   
   > facility doesn't exit on Win 10 goodness knows.   
      
   You do have some level of control on pro versions, and full control on   
   enterprise ones.   
      
   The sad reality is that the majority of hacks on systems exploit holes   
   that have already been fixed for some time, but for whatever reason the   
   patches have not been applied.   
      
   Professional IT admins in business *aught* to know better, but I expect   
   that many home users see the interruptions to their use of a system and   
   the potential complications from unexpected changes in UI, performance,   
   functionality, and workflow etc that come with patches and updates are a   
   PITA and things to be avoided and whinged about.   
      
   So MS have decided the only way they can improve this situation for home   
   users, is to take control of the patching process. Based on the number   
   of people I have met that proudly boast that they have "never installed   
   any updates, and my system still works just fine", they are probably right!   
      
   > I see you've been suckered by MSFT marketing bullshit :-)   
      
   Says the man running an OS that has not had any security patches since   
   January 10, 2023. :-)   
      
   Remember that there are substantial amounts of shared code in successive   
   versions of windows (or any OS for that matter), so each time that MS or   
   another vendor issue a patch for a critical vulnerability in a current   
   version of your OS or app, those patches by their very nature will   
   identify what was changed, and usually give strong clues what the actual   
   vulnerability was. Armed with that information, you can then work out if   
   the same vulnerability exists in older unsupported versions, and how it   
   can be exploited.   
      
   Generally not "easy" problems to deal with.   
      
   Having said that, at least it can be done for actively supported   
   consumer OSs. In the IoT and embedded systems market however, the whole   
   system is a cluster fsck! How often do people update the firmware in   
   their routers, CCTV systems, phone systems etc? How often do they rip   
   out and replace hardware that is still working because it is no longer   
   supported? How much electronic tat has never been supported, for which   
   there is no obvious update mechanism, and was riddled with bugs from day   
   one? There are loads of them that are now in bot nets and happily up to   
   mischief at their masters behest!   
      
      
   --   
   Cheers,   
      
   John.   
      
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   |        John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk              |   
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