Yesterday, I talked about how a kerfuffle (does any other language have a word as perfect as kerfuffle? I think not.) started by the CEO of the social media app Bluesky demonstrated a severe failing of society — the lack of any pressure to be an adult when you are in an adult situation. Today, I want to talk about how the lack of adults shows itself in many ways. Such as the fact that Microsoft is enabling criminals.
Now, Microsoft would probably strenuously object to my characterization of what they are about to do, but I think it stands up. Microsoft intends to end support for Windows 10 next week. This means that you will no longer get security updates, among other things, for your Windows 10 computer. Now, there are various things you can do, some free, some not, to extend the security updates, but they will only carry you to next year and you need to do them before October 14th, apparently. No, no one can provide support forever for everything, but Microsoft is abandoning a product with a massive share of the market. This is wildly irresponsible action whose main effect is likely to be more data theft, more hacking, and less safe human beings.
Windows 10 machines represent about 42% of the Windows machines used worldwide. I cannot find number representing how much of the total computers that is, but since Windows is by far the largest computer platform, we can be certain it is pretty high. And likely higher in governments and enterprise environments — you know, the places with all the data. Of those computers, about 45% of them cannot be upgraded to the Windows 11 due to Windows 11 hardware requirements. Meaning that about a fifth of the windows computers worldwide cannot be upgraded, even if the people and organizations had the money to spend. Many, of course in these harsher economic times, will not have the coin to drop on a widespread and sudden upgrade. For comparison, the last time Microsoft ended support for a Windows version, only about 2.2% of machines were running that version.
The play here, it seems, is to force people to buy new computers and/or new Windows licenses. It is a pure greed maneuver, possibly trigged by the desire to find new revenue in the face of the impending AI bubble. Regardless, Microsoft is putting its customers and the people who depend upon them at serious risk. Software is hard to write securely, given all the competing requirements and systems code interacts with. Operating systems, like Windows, are especially complex. Many of the worst security breaches happen because of issues within the operating system, and they tend to be found throughout the life of the system because of the complexity inherent in the code bases. Microsoft is very good about closing those holes when found. Well, they used to be. Now, if you are on a Windows 10 machine, you appear to be being thrown to the digital wolves.
This is a completely irresponsible on Microsoft’s part. No one who takes security or the welfare of their customers seriously would ever suggest such a route at this time. No one who took their responsibilities seriously would ever take this action. Yet here we are — a major computer provider is actively choosing to make the world less safe in the desperate hope (which so far appears to be in vain) of scratching out a few more pennies for the next couple of quarters. The idea that shareholders are all that matter is the most toxic form of anti-adult thinking in our society, and one of the most prevalent.
Corporations owe all of their stakeholders consideration, not just their shareholders. Corporations are given massive legal and tax advantages not conferred upon individuals who conduct business. Those benefits are given to them not by right but by the people who make up the society in which the corporation operates. They exist not to make people rich, but to facilitate a economy for all members of society. Deliberately harming that society runs entirely counter to the goals of the people who allowed the corporation to be formed in the first place. It is a childish act, a refusal to acknowledge the more complicated web of relationships that actually defines a corporation. Adults don’t deliberately harm 20% of their customers, and adults don’t treat the obligations they incur, the promises they make, as disposable.
Children desperate to line their own pockets do. Too bad for all of us Microsoft is run by children.
Very cool and interesting article. The link for updating Microsoft 10 was informative and hopefully those who need this info will become aware. Corporate Greed is a subject that I have had immense interest in as I wrote my Master's thesis on it. It's been around forever and will not go away, the rich get richer and the poor just fade away. Thanks for a good read !