Windows 12 could be another costly upgrade for supporters of Microsoft operating systems. A new report reveals that the AI-dominated OS will require AMD and Intel CPUs with a dedicated NPU. Possibly surfacing in late 2026, the follow-up to Windows 11 may also rely on subscriptions.
  • hraegsvelmir@ani.socialEnglish
    8·
    9 hours ago

    Man, Microsoft doubling down on the whole “Let’s force most of our customers to purchase entirely new computers to use the next release!” strategy after it went so well for Windows 11 is just hilarious. Especially with hardware costs skyrocketing due to AI BS.

  • Kissaki@feddit.orgEnglish
    2·
    9 hours ago

    CPU NPU requirements will mean longer support necessity for Windows 11.

    If they go ahead with subscriptions, demand will certainly add additional demand for that. But I guess subscriptions would be to cover copilot cost. Given Microsoft’s interest in people upgrading to eventually reduce support surface, I have to assume it will be optional, for AI features. Following that reasoning, the NPU requirement may be optional too, only applicable to the AI features block.

    But who knows, the whole thing is not driven by reasonable business decisions anyway.

    Also, I had no idea there was a “gaming copilot”. Even after following links to the introduction news, I don’t get what it really does.

  • Graymouzer@lemmy.worldEnglish
    31·
    24 hours ago

    How can anyone upgrade to a new PC when there is no Ram or hard disks available? This is a crazy time to try to push that.

    • Skankhunt420@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      17·
      23 hours ago

      I think this highlights Microsoft’s inability to connect with its customers even more than the AI and shit.

      They really just do not give a shit about the consumer, at all.

      Its insane people put up with it on their own personal machines I get for work or whatever.

      • sicktriple@lemmy.mlEnglish
        16·
        23 hours ago

        Microsoft is absolutely fucking deranged just like that freak who’s leading them. Dealing with them as an enterprise customer is a fucking nightmare, their docs suck, their support, which you pay for btw, is adversarial just like their OS. I fucking hate Microsoft in my bones, so I love when I see them doing submental shit like this to themselves

      • BananaIsABerry@lemmy.zipEnglish
        1·
        21 hours ago

        The truth is that you and I are not their customer. The business to business sales are their primary concern, and many companies would be fine forking over a little extra cash for the “AI operating system”.

        The average home user is an afterthought.

  • DokiDokiCT@lemmy.worldEnglish
    37·
    1 day ago

    I’ll take this as a sign to continue converting as many of my friends and family to whichever Linux distro fits them best.

    • Eggyhead@lemmings.worldEnglish
      3·
      1 day ago

      Honest question. As someone who has used and loved MacOS for many years, what would be the best Linux distro for me?

      • BartyDeCanter@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
        4·
        22 hours ago

        For a new user, the most important things are usually a familiar feeling desktop environment, comprehensive default hardware support, and plenty of documentation in case you need it. The most important anti-things are needing to learn a bunch of new concepts right away, needing to use the command line, and experimental things that are known to break regularly.

        Since you’re a Mac user, I would suggest KDE over Gnome for a desktop environment. Even though the default Gnome application bar looks very Mac-like and the default bar on KDE looks very windows-like, the rest of the KDE desktop feels much more Mac-like.

        For the rest, you will want to use a common distro with a wide user base and a long history targeted at desktop users.

        For those reasons, I would suggest either Kubuntu, or Fedora KDE.

        Edit: When picking between those two, choose Kubuntu is you want to install the OS, and then not worry about major updates for several years. Pick Fedora if you want to have new features more often.

        If you are ok with a more Windows-like desktop environment, Linux Mint is the go to option for an easy intro to Linux.

      • sploosh@lemmy.worldEnglish
        62·
        1 day ago

        Stick with MacOS, Apple isn’t shitting the bed nearly as hard as MS(lop). If you really want to switch, Mint is nice as a starter, and Bazzite, while intended for gaming, is mich, much more solid than I expected and is totally usable as a daily driver.

        • coolfission@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          23 hours ago

          Have you used the latest macOS 26? The UI is terrible and constant bugs and glitches with the new liquid glass look.

        • scala@lemmy.mlEnglish
          1·
          24 hours ago

          Been using bazzite nearly a year now. I also have mint installed thinking bazzite wouldn’t be a great daily. I was proven wrong. Bazzite is great.

      • fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        2·
        24 hours ago

        If you’re used to the UI and UX of Mac OS and not Windows then almost any distro will be rough. There’s Elementary OS that at surface level looks like Mac OS, but then you use the actual Linux programs and they’re just Linux programs.

      • originaltnavn@lemmy.zipEnglish
        21·
        1 day ago

        I would sugest debian, it has the same “just works”-feel to it, and the gnome desktop environment shares some design philosophy with macos. The main downside is that it is often a couple of years behind on software updates. Is this is a dealbreaker, I recommend mint for all, fedora when you need redhat-only software and debian-sid if you feel adventurous.

        All that said, if you have a good mac currently, it has the same UNIX-benefits as linux. Using “homebrew” as a package manager and “better touch tool” for the desktop tweaks solves most problems, this is what I do. You may of course want to run linux only software, if this is you then double check if you also need an x86-64 cpu (as opposed to arm) before reinstalling.