There are gentle migration strategies that can delay the move away from Windows 10, which Microsoft will stop supporting in October 2025. Technically (and maybe even psychologically), the easiest step is the hard one: get rid of Windows 10 and install an attractive, sustainable Linux desktop system in its place!

Linux places no special demands on hardware, so there are generally no limitations when choosing a Linux system. Even more feature-rich desktop distributions like Ubuntu with the Gnome desktop, Kubuntu with KDE, or Linux Mint will run smoothly on any hardware that previously ran Windows 10. You only need to consider lighter distributions if the hardware was already noticeably struggling with Windows 10.

Tip: For older notebooks with a mechanical 2.5-inch hard drive, the switch to Linux is a great opportunity to replace the old drive with an SSD.

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That way, you have a complete physical backup of your old Windows system on the mechanical hard drive, so you don’t need to worry about making a separate backup (see point two). To use this backup, you can use SATA-to-USB adapters, hard drive docking stations, or simply connect it to an internal SATA port in a spare PC (if available).