Microsoft Sued for Discontinuing Windows 10 Support
An Anonymous Coward writes:
The plaintiff says that Microsoft's tactic of "forced obsolescence" is an "attempt to monopolize the generative AI market."
https://www.courthousenews.com/microsoft-sued-for-discontinuing-windows-10-support/
https://archive.ph/evqhf
A Southern California man sued Microsoft on Thursday over the software giant's plan to discontinue support for the old version of its widely used operating system Windows.
Though Windows 11 was launched nearly four years ago, many of its billion or so worldwide users are clinging to the decade-old Windows 10.
In fact, the newer Windows only just recently overtook its predecessor, in July.
According to StatCounter, nearly 43% of Windows users still use the old version on their desktop computers. The bad news for them is that Microsoft is discontinuing its routine support for Windows 10 in nearly two months on Oct. 14.
Not that computers running Windows 10 will completely stop working on that day. But they will no longer receive new features or security updates.
The plaintiff, Lawrence Klein, says in his complaint filed in San Diego Superior Court, that he owns two laptops, both of which run Windows 10. Both laptops, he says in his complaint, will become obsolete in October, when Microsoft ends support for Window. [...] Klein says that the end of Windows 10 is part of Microsoft's strategy to force customers to purchase new devices and to "monopolize the generative AI market."
Windows 11 comes with Microsoft's suite of generative artificial intelligence software, including the chatbot Copilot. To run optimally, Microsoft's AI needs a piece of hardware called a neural processing unit, which newer tablets, laptops and desktop computers have - and which the older devices do not.
"With only three months until support ends for Windows 10, it is likely that many millions of users will not buy new devices or pay for extended support," Klein writes in his complaint. "These users - some of whom are businesses storing sensitive consumer data - will be at a heightened risk of a cyberattack or other data security incident, a reality of which Microsoft is well aware."
"In other words, Microsoft's long-term business strategy to secure market dominance will have the effect of jeopardizing data security not only of Microsoft's customers but also of persons who may not use Microsoft's products at all," he adds.
Although the Windows 11 upgrade is free, an estimated 240 million personal computers don't have the right hardware to run the new operating system. And without security updates, they will be increasingly vulnerable to malware and viruses. Those customers will have the option of extended security, which will last until 2028, but at a price: $30 for individuals and $61 per device for businesses, increasing to $244 by the third year.According to one market analyst writing in 2023, Microsoft's shift away from Windows 10 will lead millions of customers to buy new devices and thrown out their old ones, consigning as many as 240 million PCs to the landfill.
"If these were all folded laptops, stacked one on top of another, they would make a pile 600km taller than the moon," the analyst wrote.
Klein is asking a judge to order Microsoft to continue supporting Windows 10 without additional charge, until the number of devices running the older operating system falls bellow 10% of total Windows users. He says nothing about any money he seeking for himself, though it does ask for attorneys' fees.
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