Microsoft

Grant is interested in a Virtual Reality desktop experience. Microsoft was looking to push that idea with their Hololens for VR, but Leo believes they are backing off on that idea as people believe there's still a ways to go with VR. Having to wear VR goggles for so long can potentially make you sick and that you can't see the world around you. Augmented Reality, or Mixed Reality as Microsoft is calling it, is a possible fix around Microsoft is pushing since it overlays information onto your display while enabling you to still see the world around you.

Manny has a 17" Dell laptop running Windows 7. With Microsoft stopping support for it in January, he's concerned about it. Should he turn it into a Linux laptop? Leo says that if you can put Windows 10 on it for free, then it would give it a few more years. But if you have to buy Windows, Leo would advise not doing that and going with installing Linux on it. Leo likes PopOS by System 76. If that doesn't work because it's a bit heavyweight, then Xubuntu or Lubuntu is designed for older machines.

Bruce can't get the latest Windows Update 1903 on his HP laptop. Microsoft says that this BIOS is too out of date and as such, it'll fail and roll back. Is there a way to block it so it won't keep doing it? The problem is, that Microsoft has stopped supporting 1803, which is where Bruce is stuck, and as such, he won't get security updates starting at the end of the year. That's a real concern. He tried putting it on a metered connection and that does stop it, but he's worried about security. He still wants the security updates.

Dianne bought a laptop with an i7 processor. Should she have gotten an i9? Leo says that the i7 is overkill for people who do what Dianne does, which is surf the net, email, etc. So an i9 would be REALLY overkill. For what Dianne does, an i9 wouldn't be of any benefit to her. It's more for video editing, graphic design, heavy computational stuff. 

Martin got the email that Microsoft will be killing Windows 7 in January. What does it mean? Leo says it's the normal end of life announcement, which Microsoft did for Windows XP, Me, and every single OS before it. It means that Microsoft will stop issuing patches, including security patches after January. This will make it unsafe to use online. You can still use it on your computer, but it'll be a security risk and browsers and websites will gradually stop working.

Carmine is having issues updating Windows. He's behind and can't update to "1809." He's on 1803. Leo says that 1809 wasn't a good update, and Microsoft just skipped it and moved on to 1903. Eventually, Carmine will get it. There are ways to force it, and he can "check for updates." But Leo says that feature updates aren't as important as security updates. Eventually, it'll come.