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Rider77

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My laptop is ancient by some standards. It is a ThinkPad that was running Windows 10, that became obsolete last October. I toyed with the idea or buying a new one, and I was about to pay the premium price to get a MacBook. I was searching about the Win10 delemma and found a YouTube video about how to upgrade from Win10 to Win11. Microsoft deemed my device as not being able to make that upgrade.

The YouTube link I found gave me step by step instructions so that I could upgrade at no cost. I had to download a utility called RUFUS and the new Windows 11 version, no cost. Then using a usb drive that I already had, I followed directions and it was done in less than an hour. I had been saving up my credit card cash back dollars intending to offset at least half the cost of the Mac. Now maybe I can get those accessories for my vintage pickup instead.
 

Rider77 said:
So far the results are good. Do you know of pitfalls I may encounter?
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Some of the problems with installing Windows 11 that way is, you won't receive automatic updates to the OS. If you manually install updates, they might not be compatible with your hardware. When you install other software, it's going to detect Windows 11, and the version it installs might have the same problem of not be compatible with your hardware.

I learned all this the hard way. I bought a used computer off Amazon that came with Windows 11. I used it for about two months and then read something that indicated the computer might not be compatible with Windows 11, and sure enough, the CPU wasn't compatible. They used that hack you followed to install it. Luckily, the computer had a three month window for returns, which I made by about a week. I returned it and bought another one off Amazon after thoroughly checking it for compatibility. (I asked AI. 🤣 )

I do have another computer that's not Windows 11 compatible and is running Windows 10. It turns out, you can get a free one-year extension for support for Windows 10, simply by applying for it. That's what I did with that computer.
 
That is great news. You must be very pleased with being able to accomplish the transition.

If you thought your laptop was ancient with W10 - I still have one laptop with Windows 7 and use it as a backup occassionally. As long as it works, I keep using it.

I just noticed your question, "Do you know of pitfalls I may encounter?" My concern may be if I would get Windows 11 updates for W11. But if Rufus was only used to create the change-over and your PC meets standard W11 requirements for updates, hopefully they will go through as they should. You'll know soon enough, since security updates come through every few days, or at least once a week.

I was about to post this when I noticed @RambleTamble expressed a similar concern. For now, just wait and see what develops.
 
Rider77 said:
So far the results are good. Do you know of pitfalls I may encounter?
Click to expand...
@RambleTamble gave a good headsup. There may be pitfalls.

Mostly you should be fine. The main caveat as mentioned is that Microsoft doesn’t guarantee future feature updates on unsupported hardware, though security updates usually keep coming. So if something starts acting weird with hardware later, you can't really blame it on Windows ... maybe.

If you need drivers to keep hardware playing nice with Windows down the road, you might look for newer drivers on the ThinkPad site if Windows doesn't offer update drivers for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or power management for example and hardware is acting up.

Just make sure you keep good backups, especially before major updates. A lot of folks have been running Win11 your way for a long time without issues, so if it’s stable now, you probably squeezed a few more good years out of your ThinkPad and saved a bundle. Winning.
 

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