Microsoft's Free Upgrade Offer—Bad News For 240 Million Windows Users
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Microsoft's campaign to urge some 240 million PC owners to recycle their devices or consign them to landfill continues. The company has already told those users they do not get its free Windows 11 upgrade, and is now emphasizing why the new hardware so many must (but don't want to) buy is absolutely critical to staying safe.
As spotted by Neowin, following Microsoft's suggestion that users 'dump their PC and get a new one with Windows 11,' the company is now explaining 'why that is and how it helps make Windows 11 a better OS than Windows 10.' Thankfully, it has done this 'in simple words so that most users can understand them.'
This is TPM 2.0, the hardware security chip that is the dividing line between PCs that can upgrade to Windows 11 and PCs that can't. 'The Trusted Platform Module (TPM),' Microsoft says, 'is a specialized chip built into your computer's hardware. It's designed to protect sensitive data by ensuring only trust software runs on your computer. It also keeps your important information safe from unauthorized access.'
The company provides four security related bullets to explain Windows 11's security benefits, which as is always emphasized, is a hardware/software combination:
TPM 2.0 is not just chip, Microsoft says, 'it's your device's first line of defense against the ever-evolving world of cyber threats.'
Microsoft has a fast-approaching problem as it 'tries to convince Windows 10 users that TPM 2.0 is worth the upgrade,' per XDA Developers. There is a hard red line between the PCs that can and can't upgrade, those with and without the TPM 2.0 chip. With workarounds being shutdown and the Windows-maker being clear than ineligible PCs should be be changed, we will hit a brake in those Windows 11 numbers.
After trailing Windows 10 since its launch, Windows 11 now has almost the same market share as its predecessor, and the numbers of those switching is accelerating at long last. But at some point that will stop or at least drastically slow down.
The current estimate of the number of ineligible PCs is 240 million — but there are fears there could be even more. And a vast number of those will neither update hardware nor pay $30 for a 12-month support extension. That will leave hundreds of millions of PCs exposed to the cyber threats that hit Windows PCs constantly. Bad news all round.
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