[German]Microsoft wants to get rid of some of its Windows users. That's how I interpret the fact that Microsoft published instructions on how to install Linux on their systems at the end of September 2023. Coincides with the terminated upgrade to Windows 10/11 via Windows 7/8.1 product key.
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No more free Upgrades from Win 7/8.1
Microsoft is letting expire the ability to use product keys from Windows 7/8.1 to upgrade to Windows 10/11. I had addressed this issue, which has been known since late September 2023, in the blog post Windows 10/11: Upgrade path with Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 keys no longer works (Sept. 2023).
The unofficial or still working option of using an old key to upgrade to Windows 10 or Windows 11 is likely to stop working across the board in a few weeks. People could get a new computer with a current Windows 11 version or buy the required license including product key. Or those affected could pursue a smarter option and switch to Linux. For many private users, this seems to me to be possible without any problems, since often no special software is needed there.
Microsoft helps with the switch to Linux
German blog reader Ottilius had already pointed to 12 October 2023 in this comment. Microsoft has published a number of instructions for installing Linux in its Linux resources as of September 29, 2023. This ranges from choosing a Linux distribution including downloading to installing Linux. It ranges from using the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), to creating a virtual machine (VM) to run Linux locally or in the cloud, to installing Linux natively on bar metal. The latter is described in the section Create a bootable USB drive to install bare-metal Linux.
Windows is no longer important
If you look at Microsoft's long-term strategies, you'll have to take the release of the Linux installation guides as a hint. Microsoft simply no longer cares about a portion of its Windows users – namely, those who want to stick with on-premises solutions and those who don't want to keep hopping onto new hardware with the latest Windows license.
Because the support for Windows 10 will end in October 2025, after which a large part of the hardware will mutate into electronic waste – at least when it comes to running Windows. Because Windows 11 will no longer be supported on this hardware (due to harsh requirements).
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In addition, Microsoft is increasingly moving in the direction of cloud and subscription solutions. On the one hand, this secures Redmond a steady inflow of revenue, since the cloud solutions are only available by subscription. Furthermore, dependencies are cemented, since an Azure cloud solution with Entra-ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) cannot simply be moved to the competition.
Windows 11 and the rumored successor Windows 12 are more and more becoming fat thin clients a la Microsoft to provide their cloud solutions at the workplace. Users who simply want to run a local computer with an operating system are only a nuisance. This clientele as well as Windows as an operating system is dispensable for this purpose for Microsoft – so dispose of this disruptive factor. For me, that is the message from the above publication.
If Microsoft goes through with its abandonment of home Windows users, it should be compelled to make Windows 10 source code available to developers so that vast quantities of obsolete devices will not require considerable landfill waste disposal capacity.
Doesn't the EU have the power to make this happen? This is a political matter.