I saved a doomed Windows laptop by embracing Linux
Two weeks ago I set aside my M4 MacBook Air and picked up a nine-year-old ThinkPad. It's one of an estimated 200 to 400 million Windows 10 PCs that don't meet Microsoft's requirements for Windows 11. When Microsoft officially ended support for Windows 10 in October, it became "obsolete." The solution, according to Microsoft, is to get rid of it and buy a computer that can run Windows 11.
But that's not good enough. This ThinkPad - like millions of other PCs in the same boat - is still perfectly functional. Its hardware is more than capable of everyday tasks. I've been using it for web browsing, writing in Google Docs, talking to my Verge c …