I can't upgrade to Windows 11

Huh. Using Microsoft's upgrade health-checker after a warning that there's a problem, I have discovered that there is no way I can upgrade to Windows 11, the new operating system coming shortly. 

My 2016-vintage Microsoft Surface Book (Verity) is good to go in all respects except for its Intel Skylake i5 processor, which won't suit the new OS. A processor that - it seems - has become obsolete in only five years. And yet it was new (and considered pretty powerful) back in 2016. 

I feel a touch short-changed. 

And it's puzzling. I'm still getting sterling service from my laptop. Its main job is to bulk-process all the photographs I take, which may mean hundreds of shots each week when I'm on holiday. The processor, aided by the NVIDIA graphics card, is still handling that large workload with ease, despite the pictures from my new camera (Lili) being 60% bigger than those from the previous camera, requiring correspondingly more processing effort. 

So I'm very surprised that this still-capable processor is now deemed to be not up to the job. Is there some commercial issue behind this? Such as Microsoft and Intel being spiteful and awkward with each other? Who knows. The bottom line is this: if Microsoft have decided that my laptop can't install Windows 11, then there's nothing I can do about it.

Of course, they are suggesting (pushing?) one obvious solution: I could buy a new laptop - preferably a shiny new top-spec Surface Book. But I don't want to do that just now. 

There is some good news: they will continue to support Windows 10 for another four years to October 2025, and regular updates for that OS will come to me during that time. 

Well, that's all right. I am perfectly happy with the look and feel of Windows 10, and I don't think that - for my needs - Windows 11 would in any way be an essential upgrade. Perhaps more importantly, I can continue to use certain Nikon and Epson photo applications of 2007 and 2008 vintage that might well not run in Windows 11. These applications suit me fine, and they were either paid for long ago, or came free with a camera purchase long ago. If I were forced to install modern substitutes, it would involve considerable expense. Either a big one-off cost, or (more likely) an unwelcome monthly subscription. So staying with Windows 10 is actually a no-cost option.

And a forced laptop purchase in 2025 isn't a bad thing. Verity will be nine years old by then - no doubt still functioning perfectly, but her battery won't be in the best of health, and I will surely be hankering after an even nicer screen. I had in fact been wondering when would be the best time to replace her. Now Microsoft have decided that for me; and I can build the cost of a new laptop in 2025 into my Savings Plan. 

It will probably set me back £2,500 in today's values. And that will be for another Surface Book, but not one with a huge amount of storage. I won't need it. 500GB will be more than adequate. Nowadays I keep almost everything in external storage, and not on the laptop itself. I've changed the way I do things, to make that possible. I'll certainly want Surface Book quality, and a very nice screen, keyboard and touchpad, but I won't have to pay £3,000 to £4,000 for the very best version that has it all. 

On the whole then, this announcement from Microsoft about Windows 11 has helped to crystallise my plans, and reassure me that I'll be perfectly OK if I stick with Verity for the next four years. 

She will have plenty to do. I still have thousands of prints to scan and digitise, despite all the assiduous scanning during the pandemic lockdowns in 2020 and early 2021. And the extra caravanning I will do - those weeks away help to keep my household bills down - will mean extra photography in new places around the country. Maybe in Ireland at some point - terra incognita just now. Then, if my ancient TV set packs in - that's the Samsung telly I inherited from Mum and Dad in 2009 - Verity will have to become my TV instead. I can't possibly justify buying a swish modern 60-inch panel when my viewing is limited to a few hours of the Yesterday channel each week. And new episodes of Vera or Death in Paradise.

So: a new laptop in 2025. And a new car in 2026, hopefully. 

At least I've already got a new camera. One less thing to budget for in the future.