It's going to be a cloud only, privacy raping machine, built entirely around AI. Every single pixel, every single keystroke and every byte in every file will be monitored by Microsoft.

> muh linux
In the medium term, it doesn't matter. If there's no windows for desktops, there's no hardware. Eventually you just won't be able to buy it because it's simply not made. They'll probably throw in some hardware attestation bullshit in the meantime as well.

> muh hardware manufacturers won't like it.
They will love it because cloud services all upgrade on a clockwork cadence. Instead of people holding onto machines forever, they'll have guaranteed regular sales.

> muh everyone says this every new version of windows
Microsoft is falling behind in the AI race, so it is the perfect time for them to make the transition to an environment where people have no control over their own hardware and are forced to live in a 100% Microsoft AI sandbox that they can't escape from. That's how they capture this giant new market.

> muh GDPR
The EU is going to waive every single privacy issue because this gives them their final ultimate wet dream - giga access to what you are doing at all times.

> muh private companies won't like it
Trusted securate enclaves, homeomorphic compute and all that shit will be made available to businesses. Not you.

All these hundreds of gigawatts of power being bought up are going to leave them with enormous amounts of compute, and you can be sure a big chunk of it is being earmarked for cloud desktop.

>>105795722 (OP)
that's fucking retarded why would they do that when they can barely get people to upgrade to 11

>>105795722 (OP)
good. privacy should only be a right for programmers anyways.

>>105795722 (OP)
ooo, ouch. that sucks. or maybe that is really awesome. i dont know, i didn't read your post beyond the title *shrugs*. all i want to say is this, i dont care what happens to windows because im an adult. and since im an adult, i use mac.

>>105795748
All they have to do is wait. 5-10 years and the bulk of today's hardware will start to become obsolete. In the meantime, they'll be nudging everyone harder and harder so that by the time they switch to Windows 12 all their shit will be on Onedrive anyway. Probably they short-cycle security updates this time to get the 'don't run unupdated systems' retards on board.

>>105795763
Apple's going to go the same way too. Average Mac user won't even realize everything is a thin client. Probably not as soon as Windows though.

Also: get ready to start seeing it bundled as Windows 12 running your TV, with 5G instead of wifi. Don't even need an internet connection, or a separate computer. Just talk and wave at your TV!

>>105795722 (OP)
I use Arch btw.

>>105795766
but you just said that you won't be able to put linux on it because there's going to be no new hardware? but at the same time manufacturers would love it because it gets people to buy nonexistent new hardware?

>>105795902
Not people buying new hardware retard. Datacenters. They run on regular upgrade cycles. CPU, GPU, motherboard manufacturers won't give a fuck that consumers can't/don't buy hardware anymore because cloud customers will be taking up the slack on a regular basis.

>>105795722 (OP)
>the end of pc
No
That was KDE 4.0

>>105795933
is that why windows server will run on cpu from 2008?

>>105796060
What does that have to do with anything? The point is that once it's officially cloud only, it's just a matter of time before all old hardware effectively dies. 10-15 years. And they can find ways to accelerate things, like remote attestation schemes (all the digital ID stuff coming down the pipe if you've been paying attention) that make old hardware functionally useless.

i hate windows retards so fucking much man

>>105796291
As always, they'll bitch and moan, but bend over for it. There's no stopping it.

Linux people need to start getting better about trying to convert people over. The bigger the installed base is, the better defense we have against complete lockdown. If your potential customer base if 50 million people, that's one thing. If it's 500 million, that's another.

don't forget the end of general purpose computing
they'll disallow you from running programs you made, or programs they don't want you to run

>>105795722 (OP)
you're retarded
how would they make you unable to sideload linux if you still have a computer that can read inputs and connect to the internet
fucking routers have operating systems man
just buy a 40 dollar SBC
they'd have to ban all computer hardware sales dumbass
herbal addendum

>>105796435
Sure you might be able to get some garbage pointless hardware. But powerful full scale computers will be forever out of reach.

Also, I'll again point out: it is pretty easy for them to lock out pretty much anything from the internet via remote attestation.

Sounds like it will be time for a paradigm shift then, and linux will get more attention from developers because there will be more demand

>>105796461
I worry about the collapse of interest in programming when people who have spent their lives doing it realize how they're about to be gutted. Every piece of code you'll ever write again will be in an actively monitored, walled garden. I personally have no desire to have anything to do with that. Live most of your life working with the most powerful tool ever created, only to have it completely taken from you. It's going to cause real damage.

>>105795722 (OP)
>If there's no windows for desktops, there's no hardware.
Wrong. Even if there is no new hardware, there is still hardware.

>>105796484
For a while. But not for your kids or your grandkids. It's over forever once that switch gets thrown.

our computer

>>105795722 (OP)
>countries all around the world bringing in mandatory age verification on the internet
>kids are inevitably just gonna use VPNs, proxies, TOR, I2P, whatever to get around it.
>"we have to ban these illegal hacker technologies to keep the children safe! we need mandatory unremovable safeguards built into all computing devices to prevent unauthorized programs from being run!"
yeah it's been a grand old journey this whole computer and internet thing but the end is in sight.

>>105796479
You see the writing on the wall, anon. It's happening as we speak, and it's terrifying

>>105796531
The smart move for now is:
- hoard hardware to some degree. you can make it last quite a while. make sure you have isos, drivers, etc all ready on long term storage.
- start mentally preparing yourself so that when it hits, you're at least somewhat prepped. Start finding hobbies that completely avoid electronics. reading or whatever the fuck.

>>105795722 (OP)
Windows 11 is the last. 12 won't come.

>>105796623
I think it will. 11 will act as softening the blow, just like 10 did for 11. They'll announce 12 with all of it's bad shit, knowing it'll generate a huge backlash. But as always, people will start to get accustomed to the idea and think to themelves "I've got years left on Windows 11, I'm not going to worry". Then one day (say, 2032) it's over.

12 will defintely be the last one though. It'll just get rebranded to "Windows" and that'll be that.

>>105796443
>it is pretty easy for them to lock out pretty much anything from the internet via remote attestation.
lol

>>105796651
Tech companies do it all the time internally. Specialized certificates and user registration to even see the intranet. Not much of a leap for your ISP to do it you.

>>105796651
all websites will be put behind cloudflare or equivalent which will block VPNs and unauthenticated users.
non-protected websites will get DDoSed by data miners or swamped by AI spambots

>>105796736
>AI
Worth mentioning how AI is going to be the real accelerant here. If they can get all your shit in the cloud, they have a ton more access to training data. Old stuff, new stuff, a constant influx of data. 1000% guarantee this is accelerating their plans to cloudify the OS.

>>105795722 (OP)
Literally everything you said is wrong. The future of tech is dire but you seem to have come to the wrong conclusions on everything.

>>105796796
So, what are the right conclusions? I'd fucking love to be wrong.

>>105795722 (OP)
That's some nice head cannon you got there.

>>105795722 (OP)
Dang
and then there's me still using Windows 7

>>105796802
Microsoft is leading the AI race. In many ways this "AI cloud computing" is already here. Linux is a solution but it's also getting enshittified, it's about 5 years behind Microsoft.
There's currently a war within Linux to fix this. We're returning to our hacker roots. I genuinely think Microsoft will collapse within the next few years. Companies like Lenovo are already offering Linux distributions as alternatives when buying a computer.

>>105796969
>There's currently a war within Linux to fix this. We're returning to our hacker roots.
What war? wayland vs x? systemd? Tempests in a teacup. Chasing 'hacker roots' is dumb anyway. You defend against Microsoft by growing your user base, not by making it more obscure and hard to use.

>I genuinely think Microsoft will collapse within the next few years
How do you figure? They make shitloads of money from Azure, and it continues to go up. Windows isn't nearly as big of a piece any more, but if they can use it to amplify Azure, they're going to do it.

>>105796736
Nobody will have internet when I short out all the power lines.

>>105797041
>What war? wayland vs x? systemd? Tempests in a teacup. Chasing 'hacker roots' is dumb anyway. You defend against Microsoft by growing your user base, not by making it more obscure and hard to use.
Wayland vs X is a byproduct of it. It's more about the community vs corpos. I don't mean returning to hacker roots in the autistic /g/ Luke Smith sense, I mean how free software started as a bunch of college students in the 80s and 90s who would see something proprietary and say "fuck you, I'll make my own thing".
>How do you figure? They make shitloads of money from Azure, and it continues to go up. Windows isn't nearly as big of a piece any more, but if they can use it to amplify Azure, they're going to do it.
I'm sure some parts will remain in tact but Windows 11 is already their biggest disaster yet and they just went all in on a gamble firing a ton of programmers and forcing the remaining ones to vibe code. A company this massive relying entirely on an LLM that generates code that no one will really understand wont end pretty.

>>105795722 (OP)
This is the dumbest shit and would only drive customers away but good try though Doomer

>>105796443
>But powerful full scale computers will be forever out of reach.

Who is using those? The main reason why we use our devices, is to surf the web. Websurfing is the prime reason, why people own a computer/smartphone. And I am not talking about "normies", I think this applies to everybody. If I had to choose between a powerful OFFLINE general purpose computer and a ONLINE ultra thin client, I would certainly choose the latter.

>>105797835
Nta but for me is the opposite: yes i agree that most activity is done online but i also would like to have a complete device able to do useful stuff without a network connection. My usual configuration has a whole distribution of all purpose software including wikis, i can potentially do scientific research, design, media production, programming and gaming offline and i want to be able to keep having this fallback option, just as much as owning a energy generator for emergency.