There are alternatives to Windows available to computer users

The irony of Conor Power paying Microsoft for the privilege of getting access to Windows 10 is that he is locking himself in to that system in ways that will both cost him money and be entirely determined by Microsoft rather than himself.

So, for instance, the next time his system is ‘upgraded’, it will be done at a time chosen by Microsoft and so,just when he most urgently needs to get onto his system, the update will take its own sweet time installing itself.

And if his article was originally written as a Word file, Microsoft are moving to make such access subscriptive, meaning he will have to pay fees every year, rather than a single payment.

The only thing Windows is absolutely necessary for nowadays is playing computer games.

But assuming that is not the case then the good news is that there are entirely free alternatives.

There are various versions of a system called Linux, at least one of which, Mint, is designed specifically to look like Windows as much as possible.

Although there is a certain amount of learning to be done, of course, given that he already does know how to use Windows, such lessons should be easy enough, entirely free and would mean he would never have to use Windows again.

Frank Desmond

Evergreen Road

Cork City