MICROSOFT MOVING FORWARD

Scannerman · Feb 28, 2026

I stumbled upon this video in my online explorations. I'm curious as to what others might think about the information this gentleman is sharing.

Perhaps subscriptions isn't really a bad route to take. Perhaps a two tiered system isn't such a bad idea for people who don't want or need to use AI.
Personally, I'm not so certain that the future for Windows 12 and NPUs is such a bad idea if the information shared here is correct.

The thing I value the most is keeping my options. Not everyone shares the same values. At any rate this is an interesting video.

hader · Feb 28, 2026

Have seen some pointers also already.
- That whole NPU story is what we have seen before; The introduction of Win11 demands: TPM 2.0 and a Newer CPU. (Don't have TPM 2.0 and have an older CPU? Stay on Win10 then. It's now EOL for Win10. You can have additional support till 2028. But then? Bye bye) They want to do it again with NPU's.
- That hardware deal with Qualcomm and Intel? We see now the results; Windows 26H1. Suited for ARM and x86 CPU's.
- Windows 12? Long rumored. It's not what 26H1 is!.... It's still a mirage....

Where they want to go? I already mentioned it before; Windows running in the cloud based on subscription base. Nothing new here also. They did it before. Moving Office xxxx to MS Office 365 and store it's data locally and inside the cloud for a monthly subscription. You don't have the option to say; I'll buy MS Office 365 and want the programs and store my data locally only. (Don't trust the storage space in the cloud. Can be turned off at will by MS, Trump etc.) Yes you can run programs locally and store data locally.... But you still have to pay for a monthly subscription!!!!

This is the direction that Microsoft wants to go with their future Windows XX products. Run locally or in the cloud; never mind it all; you have to pay for a monthly subscription. If you run everything locally? Fine! But you MUST make contact our MS servers to check your subscription is still valid once every 30 days..... No subscription? No Windows. Bye bye..... You see this also in this video. The reality is more cloudy because you can make some halfway through solutions. Their serious end product will be; Run Windows on a dirt-cheap machine. With glasfiber connection you are making contact with a powerful virtual machine in the cloud (how heavier the more the monthly costs) We are receiving your keyboard and mouse commands and we are sending the output of our virtual graphics card to your monitor. (Reminds me of those mainframe days and their simple terminals. Citrix and Thin clients did it also.)

Strange? No! NVIDIA is already doing this already! with their services for running games on their top-tier GPU's in the cloud. Your GPU isn't locally anymore; You can hire a RTX5090 card in the cloud running any game with 300FPS and sending you the output of that virtual machine to your monitor. No need to spend a lot of money on a local top-tier game card. A cheap VGA-card is enough.

If this already possible, then doing it with a complete machine is also possible. Hardware manufactures happy. People must run (again) to the shops for a PC with a NPU. MS happy. More money is coming in thanks to that subscription model. Seen this all before with PaaS products. (that model is not new. The way MS wants it to go: with consumers is new.) I also seen that in the IT-industry many Windows Servers are replaced by Linux Servers. Cheaper, more reliable and not touched by MS always changing license conditions. This is what awaits us all also. It's not new. It already happend in other areas before. I as an DBA have used mainly Oracle products installed on Windows Servers. Now the same but with Oracle products that runs on Linux (RHEL e.a.) The industry is running onto Linux vs Windows servers. Estimate 80% vs 20%. Some government don't want to change because of the deals they had made with MS in the past.

My limit's? No NPU's, No spying, No stuff on my machine that I don't want, and fore more most: No subscriptions!!! I have paid in the many years official products for one price with a lifetime license and support. Then... An investor comes along. Throws all those old conditions out of the window. Not enough cash is coming in; a new deal: You have to pay for a 1 year license each year. (Basically it turns out what 1 have paid in the past for a lifetime usage. I have to pay for it again but now each year. No way!! You are the ones that broke that deal, not me! Hello cracked version of the same product...... that can be upgraded each time a new version comes out.)

I see no future for the way MS direction is going for consumers. They saw what was happening with the changeover from Windows 10 to 11. Many people didn't like to be forced to buy new machine while programs with bypassing those demands runs faster on 11 as on 10. Those hardware changes was just BS! And now? People are using Win10 despite it's EOL. You can still receive security updates for it till 2028. But then? It stops also. (That Subscription; US: has to pay $30/year, In the EU? For free) All that forced upon us AI, Copilot+ and all that collecting information about us all isn't what we wanted also. It's what MS wants. They will sell this information to third party's in order to make Mo Money..... Under these conditions I understand the cry for an alternative OS. That is caused by MS themselves and what they want. They have to scratch on their heads on this one. If everybody turns away from MS? Bye bye MS then.....

Scannerman · Feb 28, 2026

hader said:
Have seen some pointers also already.
- That whole NPU story is what we have seen before; The introduction of Win11 demands: TPM 2.0 and a Newer CPU. (Don't have TPM 2.0 and have an older CPU? Stay on Win10 then. It's now EOL for Win10. You can have additional support till 2028. But then? Bye bye) They want to do it again with NPU's.
- That hardware deal with Qualcomm and Intel? We see now the results; Windows 26H1. Suited for ARM and x86 CPU's.
- Windows 12? Long rumored. It's not what 26H1 is!.... It's still a mirage....

First of all, thank you for responding. This forum does not appear to have a category for discussion only per se, but I suppose the "chill room' will suffice. I have been noticing that many here enjoy in depth discussion on various subjects related to Windows and Windows 11. Sometimes a thread will go off the rails and onto a tangent. I'm just as guilty of running with it as the next guy. So... Discussion. Subject material: The future of Windows OS.
I find it somewhat humorous that people can run Win11 on non-compliant systems and still take advantage of most of the features that Win11 offers. In fact, I'm typing on such a unit right now after updating a Win 11 compliant build that I hope to get around to using at some point on a more regular basis. The cost of staying on Win 10 with all security updates is impractical but I suppose for big corporations it's a minuscule operating expense. Small businesses are screwed in that regard. It was the whole NPU thing that really got me thinking that what they really want us to use is glorified word processors and to forget about actually having our own PCs with all the trimmings.
To be honest I don't even know if I want 26H1 but I suppose if I want to keep the security updates and stay abreast with the tech I don't have much of a choice when it comes to the world of Windows. Personally, I have precious little use for A.I. Co-Pilot ain't my thing. I commend you on your usage of puns and innuendo (in your window?) and I get the message loud and clear. Brilliant!

hader said:
Where they want to go? I already mentioned it before; Windows running in the cloud based on subscription base. Nothing new here also. They did it before. Moving Office xxxx to MS Office 365 and store it's data locally and inside the cloud for a monthly subscription. You don't have the option to say; I'll buy MS Office 365 and want the programs and store my data locally only. (Don't trust the storage space in the cloud. Can be turned off at will by MS, Trump etc.) Yes you can run programs locally and store data locally.... But you still have to pay for a monthly subscription!!!!

The Office 365 thing is a real concern for those who use it. Alas, I'm one of those users and LibreOffice does not provide me certain features I require for my work. This is certainly a concern for those who wish to "own" their own data. The persistent push to upload it all to One Drive can get really annoying. I would love to buy my Office 365 and store my data locally only but for now it's an ongoing battle so I find myself using a subscription I pay for less and less each year, wishing I could break completely free of this obvious hijack.

hader said:
This is the direction that Microsoft wants to go with their future Windows XX products. Run locally or in the cloud; never mind it all; you have to pay for a monthly subscription. If you run everything locally? Fine! But you MUST make contact our MS servers to check your subscription is still valid once every 30 days..... No subscription? No Windows. Bye bye..... You see this also in this video. The reality is more cloudy because you can make some halfway through solutions. Their serious end product will be; Run Windows on a dirt-cheap machine. With glasfiber connection you are making contact with a powerful virtual machine in the cloud (how heavier the more the monthly costs) We are receiving your keyboard and mouse commands and we are sending the output of our virtual graphics card to your monitor. (Reminds me of those mainframe days and their simple terminals. Citrix and Thin clients did it also.)

Here come da E-Machine on steroids. No worries, you don't have to pay a monthly subscription. Go annual. That way you can 12 months worth for the price of 10. Meanwhile MS gets to hold your data ransom if you don't pay up and even if you do pay they can always deny you access anyway for whatever reason. Scary stuff for sure. Currently I'm using good old fashioned Ethernet via cable but I'm slated for fibre because the price is right and my upload speeds will increase dramatically. Yeah, we can see where this is all going but hopefully it will be some time before they finally manage to wean us all off our own data storage.

The level of hypocrisy regarding proprietary rights is certainly jaw dropping when one considers how much they are willing to tread upon those same rights of the individual user. Can you trust Microsoft? Of course you can. You can trust them to hold your data ransom. You can trust them to collect all your data whenever they wish (it's in the fine print). You can trust them to hijack your hardware and you can be sure to trust them to make sure that whatever they do they cannot be held legally liable because you agreed to the EULA. That is how much you can trust them.

hader said:
Strange? No! NVIDIA is already doing this already! with their services for running games on their top-tier GPU's in the cloud. Your GPU isn't locally anymore; You can hire a RTX5090 card in the cloud running any game with 300FPS and sending you the output of that virtual machine to your monitor. No need to spend a lot of money on a local top-tier game card. A cheap VGA-card is enough.

Well, it may be enough for you but I'm not so sure about others. My 3070 isn't doing virtual graphics but I get your drift and that does appear to be where this is heading. NVIDIA is cutting deals with the military and surveillance by the way they're going I don't think NSA could ask for a better friend. The military industrial complex marches on. The average gamer doesn't care about such things. They just want good graphics and smooth gaming so if NVIDIA can deliver you can be rest assured that they'll be buying.

hader said:
If this already possible, then doing it with a complete machine is also possible. Hardware manufactures happy. People must run (again) to the shops for a PC with a NPU. MS happy. More money is coming in thanks to that subscription model. Seen this all before with PaaS products. (that model is not new. The way MS wants it to go: with consumers is new.) I also seen that in the IT-industry many Windows Servers are replaced by Linux Servers. Cheaper, more reliable and not touched by MS always changing license conditions. This is what awaits us all also. It's not new. It already happend in other areas before. I as an DBA have used mainly Oracle products installed on Windows Servers. Now the same but with Oracle products that runs on Linux (RHEL e.a.) The industry is running onto Linux vs Windows servers. Estimate 80% vs 20%. Some government don't want to change because of the deals they had made with MS in the past.

Nothing new under the sun they say, except perhaps the spin the supplier puts on the consumer. It's no big secret that Oracle can be downright nasty. That MS uses Linux for their own servers is very telling and those who are in the know also know that MS is the Linux Foundation's chief contributor. Money talks and you know the rest.

hader said:
My limit's? No NPU's, No spying, No stuff on my machine that I don't want, and fore more most: No subscriptions!!! I have paid in the many years official products for one price with a lifetime license and support. Then... An investor comes along. Throws all those old conditions out of the window. Not enough cash is coming in; a new deal: You have to pay for a 1 year license each year. (Basically it turns out what 1 have paid in the past for a lifetime usage. I have to pay for it again but now each year. No way!! You are the ones that broke that deal, not me! Hello cracked version of the same product...... that can be upgraded each time a new version comes out.)

You have a point. I wish I could find my original "life time" license key that I purchased back in 2002 but I suppose it wouldn't make a difference anyway. The whole reason I didn't even bother to install Win 10 on my work station is because of the key logger that came with it. I wasn't really all keen on Cortana either and there were a number of other things about Win 10 that didn't exactly impress me. Yes, you can trust MS to change the deal.

hader said:
I see no future for the way MS direction is going for consumers. They saw what was happening with the changeover from Windows 10 to 11. Many people didn't like to be forced to buy new machine while programs with bypassing those demands runs faster on 11 as on 10. Those hardware changes was just BS! And now? People are using Win10 despite it's EOL. You can still receive security updates for it till 2028. But then? It stops also. (That Subscription; US: has to pay $30/year, In the EU? For free) All that forced upon us AI, Copilot+ and all that collecting information about us all isn't what we wanted also. It's what MS wants. They will sell this information to third party's in order to make Mo Money..... Under these conditions I understand the cry for an alternative OS. That is caused by MS themselves and what they want. They have to scratch on their heads on this one. If everybody turns away from MS? Bye bye MS then.....

I rather doubt that we'll be saying goodbye to MS any time soon. One would do well to consider the psychology involved here. Out with the old, in with the new has always been a consistent theme. People love shiny and new. Self-image and recognition are a big deal. Babies cry for it, men die for it. The security argument however is starting to wear thin. Say a security breach happens. Who will be liable? A: Not MS. No, Siree. That's all covered in the EULA. Even if a class action suit should emerge what will that furnish the victim? A lousy 20 bucks? The matter is pointless. MS may as well say "Enter at your own risk" and be done with it as far as security goes. That they got us all ANALyzing and despising the uprising and surmising that MS cares about our security when it is next to impossible to hold MS liable for anything anyway. The reality is this: You are your own best first line of defence. Choose your own weapons and protection coz MS only cares about the bottom line. Security updates aren't made to protect the user. No, they're made to protect Microsoft. That's it, in a nutshell.

Through the adoption of good user habits, third party apps, dependable hardware, running one's own backups and physical archives security actually has teeth. Alas, therein lies the old trade off — security for liberty/liberty for security. I am curious as to what others might think about this. You make some very valid points.

Marie SWE · Mar 2, 2026

nooooooooo, i have to uninstall windows 11

oh wait... i dont have win11. :smirk:

What i might think........ Not much, i kind of saw it coming with win10. :nope:

Just in case someone missed it in the video or the other videos.. It is most likely AI generated content..
But the content it self is valid of what i have heard in three of the videos as i needed some background sound going while I'm testing a few things.

.

Scannerman · Mar 2, 2026

Marie SWE said:
nooooooooo, i have to uninstall windows 11

oh wait... i dont have win11.
What i might think........ Not much, i kind of saw it coming with win10.

Just in case someone missed it in the video or the other videos.. It is most likely AI generated content..
But the content it self is valid of what i have heard in three of the videos as i needed some background sound going while I'm testing a few things.

.

I was thinking much the same, at least with respect to the AI. The information is worth the listening I think. It's so hard to get away from AI these days — it's in everything and I really despise the way it's messing up my search engines.

I have Windows 11. I don't oppose anyone who chooses not to have it. (In fact I hardly blame them.) That said the video is about the future of Windows and largely touches on Windows 12 and the path that Windows is taking. Actually, it makes sense that MS is focusing more on hardware if the video is to be believed. I would rather that than have my own hardware hijacked to the extent that it's next to impossible for me to run other OS on my PC apart from Windows. For example, if I have to dig through my UEFI/BIOS and alter the settings every time simply to boot to another OS it just isn't worth the hassle. Fortunately, I found some work arounds but just how long they'll last or when Windows up and decides to mess up GRUB again I'll not surmise. Secure boot should work with any legitimate OS without having to select "other OS".

As I stated earlier the "security updates" argument is wearing thin. If this is the primary reason for staying with Windows then I'd suggest that it is time to move on. Windows won't be offering much in the way of remedy if personal data is compromised due to some security fault in the OS. That matter rests squarely on the shoulders of the end user.

To be fair, any company needs to make a profit and this is why I wonder if a subscription isn't such a bad idea after all. If Windows can provide me an OS that isn't going to harass me with advertising and nag ware, won't be hijacking my hardware, or holding my data ransom, spying on my every keystroke etc. then paying the 20 bucks a month or whatever just might be worth it. Of course the option to operate free of AI would be a huge perk for me.

If MS wants to focus more on selling PCs and laptops I'm fine with that too. I wouldn't buy one because odds are the hardware will be designed for a Windows only unit. The NPU thing makes sense too. Perhaps that is all the average user wants: a neural network where all the grunt work is done on someone else's computer, in other words a glorified word processor. Not my style, but I'm a dinosaur. I like my options.

Marie SWE · Mar 2, 2026

@Scannerman
I just woke up and are on my first coffee.

. so my brain haven't woken up yet. :yawn:

So i will read your post again after my second cup.

But the video about why some win-users moving to Linux has (some) interesting truth in it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTqxAneioc0
That's frustration thats mention in the video is why i moved from win7 to Linux... Not because i like linux.. just because i hated it less then i hating win 10 home/pro (now also 11 home/pro) I still have a copy of win 2021 LTSC if i ever need windows online.. i will get a 2024LTSC too just in case.
But i still use Win7 on daily bases (offline of course)

Back to my coffee

cheers

Scannerman · Mar 8, 2026

Marie SWE said:
@Scannerman
I just woke up and are on my first coffee.. so my brain haven't woken up yet.
So i will read your post again after my second cup.

But the video about why some win-users moving to Linux has (some) interesting truth in it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTqxAneioc0
That's frustration thats mention in the video is why i moved from win7 to Linux... Not because i like linux.. just because i hated it less then i hating win 10 home/pro (now also 11 home/pro) I still have a copy of win 2021 LTSC if i ever need windows online.. i will get a 2024LTSC too just in case.
But i still use Win7 on daily bases (offline of course)

Back to my coffee cheers

Sorry it took me most of the week to get to this. I'm pretty much in the same place on this. With Linux and Win 11 I get the best of both worlds and the worst of it on both sides too; but I'm just little ole Linux hatchling running LMDE7. Nothing hard core for this old man. On the same build I'm also running Win 7 U of course, because there's nothing else like it and it was my favourite Win OS. I'll even go online with it but I won't make transactions or do anything crucial online with it. It's as close as I'll get to having my own 7-11.

Marie SWE · Mar 8, 2026

Scannerman said:
Sorry it took me most of the week to get to this. I'm pretty much in the same place on this. With Linux and Win 11 I get the best of both worlds and the worst of it on both sides too; but I'm just little ole Linux hatchling running LMDE7. Nothing hard core for this old man. On the same build I'm also running Win 7 U of course, because there's nothing else like it and it was my favourite Win OS. I'll even go online with it but I won't make transactions or do anything crucial online with it. It's as close as I'll get to having my own 7-11.

I miss windows.. I still use win7 on daily bases.. i run my win7 computer to my TV/home cinema and for music as i cant find as good software for that to linux as the software i have to windows.
I also have a win7 computer for MS-office and Adobe photoshop that also wont run on Linux.. some Excel cheats just dont work in LibreOffice.. and Gimp cant compete with Photoshop when it comes to deeper imaging work.
So i miss windows old stable LTS concept.. 2021/2024 LTSC is an option, but sadly not an legal easy option.. and I'm to lacy for hacks and maintain the hack through updates..... So I use Debian (or is so modified so i can call it my own "distro") and will until the day i get pissed off enough so i go for the LTSC. *LOL*

Have a look at ZorinOS, i have heard a lot of Linux users that like Zorin.

I started with Mint 18,3 and switched to LMDE3 and then to Debian in 2021. Mint is a good distro.

Scannerman · Mar 8, 2026

Marie SWE said:
I miss windows.. I still use win7 on daily bases.. i run my win7 computer to my TV/home cinema and for music as i cant find as good software for that to linux as the software i have to windows.
I also have a win7 computer for MS-office and Adobe photoshop that also wont run on Linux.. some Excel cheats just dont work in LibreOffice.. and Gimp cant compete with Photoshop when it comes to deeper imaging work.
So i miss windows old stable LTS concept.. 2021/2024 LTSC is an option, but sadly not an legal easy option.. and I'm to lacy for hacks and maintain the hack through updates..... So I use Debian (or is so modified so i can call it my own "distro") and will until the day i get pissed off enough so i go for the LTSC. *LOL*

Have a look at ZorinOS, i have heard a lot of Linux users that like Zorin.
I started with Mint 18,3 and switched to LMDE3 and then to Debian in 2021. Mint is a good distro.

I don't mind Mint and I've used Debian for years now. I realize it falls short of some things that more savvy Linux users like to do with their OS but in most respects it suits me just fine. You're so right about Gimp. I appreciate the effort that has been made with Gimp but I just don't find it as user friendly as Photoshop, or, for that matter, even the Win 7 version of Paint. This might have something to do with what I'm familiar with but I think I gave Gimp an honest effort and it has been around for at least 25 years so I can't keep making excuses for Gimp. Another thing that keeps me chained to Windows is MS Word and, as you've already stated, some things just don't do well in LibreOffice. It may seem like a small thing to some but as an author I often use the BST HEBREW and GREEK fonts. These only work in Office Word. Alas, MS 365 has messed up everything and this is one narrative I will happily spare the both of us. MS seems to fail to comprehend that one's work is one's own property until which time they agree to sell it. Perhaps it is tucked away somewhere in the massive EULA that anyone who does any work with MS OS agrees to automatically forfeit all ownership of all materials produced using the OS because MS sure seems to behave as though this is the case — in which case I probably shouldn't be using MS OS at all. One can waste a lot of time pursuing hacks and at the end of the day one wonders if the effort is really worth the trouble.

Marie SWE · Mar 8, 2026

Scannerman said:
I don't mind Mint and I've used Debian for years now. I realize it falls short of some things that more savvy Linux users like to do with their OS but in most respects it suits me just fine. You're so right about Gimp. I appreciate the effort that has been made with Gimp but I just don't find it as user friendly as Photoshop, or, for that matter, even the Win 7 version of Paint. This might have something to do with what I'm familiar with but I think I gave Gimp an honest effort and it has been around for at least 25 years so I can't keep making excuses for Gimp. Another thing that keeps me chained to Windows is MS Word and, as you've already stated, some things just don't do well in LibreOffice. It may seem like a small thing to some but as an author I often use the BST HEBREW and GREEK fonts. These only work in Office Word. Alas, MS 365 has messed up everything and this is one narrative I will happily spare the both of us. MS seems to fail to comprehend that one's work is one's own property until which time they agree to sell it. Perhaps it is tucked away somewhere in the massive EULA that anyone who does any work with MS OS agrees to automatically forfeit all ownership of all materials produced using the OS because MS sure seems to behave as though this is the case — in which case I probably shouldn't be using MS OS at all. One can waste a lot of time pursuing hacks and at the end of the day one wonders if the effort is really worth the trouble.

That is why i decided to make my own version of Debian.. as Linux is just linux and distributions is more or less just about packages theming and gui tools or terminal tools.
So i made me a script that reshape debian into my liking.. it takes 25 minutes on an sata3 ssd to run with a 250Mbit internet connection.

Okay i think i have most of MS-fonts in libre office.. i installed the ones you can install by repo, and the rest i just ripped out from MS-office.. It might be a violation of EULA, but who cares. *lol*

it might not be fair to compare a community developed Gimp to a biliion dollar software like Adobe Photoshop.. But still in reality Gimp even with Krita back to back cant do what photoshop can. But i totally understand why as Adobe is a big company.

So i wont complain

So true.. that is why i never started to use win10/11 home/pro as it is to much mods to redo after every version upgrade.. I just hate rolling OS editions.. (that goes for linux too) i like it to stay as it is year after year and just install updates.

Tweaking/hacking around in OS's is fun for learning.. but not as a forced job after every major update. :eyeroll:

MICROSOFT MOVING FORWARD

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