Hardware within the past 10 years supports UEFI my dude. If your hardware is older than 10 years, leave it on an older version of Windows so you can have native support for those legacy features.
While you're at it, you might as well get upset at the fact that Internet Explorer does not exist in Windows 11. It will be removed from Windows 10 next summer, but Windows 11 does not ship with it.
And besides, apart from that there aren't many GPUs available right now, upgrading "just because" is both wasteful for your bank account, for the environment, and for your time.
I said "did not ship with UEFI". Your eyes are your friend Joy, use them. ;)
I'm fairly sure I've seen that thread before, when I spent literal hours trying to get my GPU a UEFI vBIOS. That thread didn't really help, as at the time (2019) it did not contain any guidance. It did tell to contact the manufacturer, but since I bought my GPU second hand, I didn't want to risk waiting ages for a response.
The process of installing a UEFI vBIOS was very stressful, and I had to combine many different sources to finally get it to work. Eventually, I got it, and it works now, but this is not something a regular (or even somewhat advanced) user could do, and thus, removing support for non-UEFI parts is ridiculous and wasteful.
I suggest you take that up to Nvidia. They're the one who made the 680. That's end of life man, so that's not really something that you can hold against them. Think of how things were going in 2014, no one... was really talking about UEFI as they are now, it was a different time man.
Windows is a mess because Microsoft is trying to support all versions of Windows since the 90s, which... is holding them back. Apple isn't supporting all of their versions of OSX to the 80s, and look at their OS, nice and smooth experience. Here we have Windows, a massive mess, trying to appease everyone. I applaud Microsoft for this change; I was surprised that they didn't drop Bios support with Windows 10.
I made a mistake, your GPU is from 2012, it's from the Kepler series, not Maxell series, my mistake. It's time to upgrade. You have until 2025 before Windows 10 is end of life. I suggest you even get a 980 before 2025. It's a decent card for today's standards and supports UEFI. :)
Why would it be time to upgrade? Did you even read what I wrote?
My GTX 680 is doing everything I want it to do, so there is exactly 0 reason to upgrade. I would have to spend 200 euros to get a 50% performance increase, which is simply ridiculous, and a waste of money, considering I don't need a performance increase, and that it's still performing admirably, compared to more recent cards.
I have never used OSX, so I have nothing personal to add regarding that. I do know, from other people who've used it, that there are stupid restrictions and limitations that would annoy the crap out of me, so I don't think I'm missing much.
Considering that you still use a PS/2 port keyboard, are you actually seriously trying to say that something from 2012 that still works better than some modern alternatives, is end of life and would be best thrown away? ...
You choosing not to upgrade is your own prerogative. You have no reason to complain about Windows 11 only supporting UEFI when you are using a nearly 10-year old GPU. Staying with Windows 10 just to continue using your current GPU will put you and your own system at a major security risk. This conversation is over, unless you have anything that changes the current situation's dynamic.
If you read my message, you'll have found that I did manage to change my vBIOS into an UEFI vBIOS, and thus am now - and have been for a while - running Windows 10 on UEFI mode. For my GPU, the UEFI limitation won't be an issue, but for many others with it, it probably will.
I do have a reason to complain about that, as Windows 11 only supporting UEFI would cause a lot of systems to suddenly become ewaste. That's terrible, both for the environtment, and for the people using those systems. The times when 10 year old PC hardware is obsolete and unusable in terms of performance have passed.
I understand your feelings for eWaste, we produce a lot of it and have no means of ways to "usefully" get rid of it without hurting the environment and I wish there was, but... such is life when you are talking about technology. Old stuff will always break down over time. Even those that take really good care of their stuff, it will eventually break down and be thrown out. Such is how things work with technology.
The only "true way" to be 100% green is to not even touch a bit of technology in your life. That would be near impossible since our modern lives are governed by a ton of it, much more than you may think. I create eWaste, but I try to control it, in a sense: "As little as possible, and even if I do, make sure it's justified".
Exactly, and that is exactly why it is a bad thing to force UEFI support, as it would mean the end of many well-functioning systems, and thus put a huge, unnecessary extra strain on the environment.
Acceptable losses. That many more vulnerable computers will be removed from everyday use with modern OSs and will be put offline for retro use/legacy uses. Just like everyone who didn't have hardware powerful enough or capable for Windows 10.
What makes yithose computers vulnerable?
I have a couple of machines running Windows 10 with CPUs from 2007, they're still working just fine, are connected to the interwebs, and are kept up to date with windows update. So far, I have no reason to retire them.
BIOS is old, and insecure. It can easily be hacked into. UEFI is much more faster and much more secure. It "can" be hacked into, but it's exponentially that much more difficult. Ever heard of a BIOS virus? They exist, extremely rare but extremely devastating. The only recovery from that is to physically remove the BIOS chip from your motherboard and solder a new one on. I haven't heard of a UEFI virus though...
Just googled it. Multiple sources state that malicious code can certainly also be transmitted via UEFI.
And if getting a BIOS virus is extremely rare, and would only render the motherboard useless, wouldn't that be much better than having millions of entire PCs being practically rendered useless?
The benefits of UEFI outweigh the possibility of a potential virus. I can see where they are going with this. Again, old machines will still be used, but be offline. If others decide to throw away their computer(s), that's on them, not you. You do not have to feel like that "you failed" when you were not the one that committed eWaste, right?
I feel that Microsoft would have failed us, the environment, and their customer, by requiring the use of UEFI. Most benefits are fun and all, but don't matter much in the real world, especially not for the older systems that don't use it. Considering how big of a role the internet plays in our lives right now, I anticipate that most machines will either be continued to be used, or be scrapped.
Microsoft wanted people to stay more up to date, and don't stay behind, like they did with most notably Windows XP and 7. Removing BIOS support would cause this whole story to begin again...
When you are in the technology universe, garbage is a common thing. You cannot prevent it. Even those who take care of the best antique computers, those will eventually be scrapped, due to the fact that the metal, plastic, and/or silicon will eventually break down and will be unable to be recreated or replicated.
Just because waste isn't preventable, it doesn't mean we should encourage it. And even so, many people can't sccord new hsrdware, or don't have the disposable income for it.
Going to UEFI does not encourage eWaste as a whole. There are lots of people who still use an offline version of Windows 7 on a separate computer to their Windows 10 (soon to be 11) machine. The just use a flash drive to go back and forth between the two. Some will throw away unnecessarily, but that goes back to my earlier post of: "If you have to throw away, make sure it's justified."
Most hardware in the past 10 years supports UEFI (motherboards), it seems that it's the GPUs that will probably produce the most eWaste, seeing how yours was made in 2012 and does not have UEFI support without a chip flash.
And most people will see a GPU ("what even is a GPU??") that doesn't support UEFI, as a reason to dump the entire system. "Some will throw away unnecessarily" if you look at the world, you'll probably find that "most will throw away unnecessarily" is more accurate, especially in the consumerist "western" countries. :)
And I can tell you that the only reason that I managed to get a UEFI vBIOS on my GPU, was pure persistence. I fortunately don't remember how long it took, but I'd wager a guess that it was more than 5 hours. It just goes to show that updating your vBIOS is an incredibly tough and complex task. Improvements to the process can definitely be made, but it will always stay harder than updating your regular BIOS or UEFI.
I do not think that's because they're those kinds of people, rather... they are uneducated and do not know how computers work. They think 1 thing is wrong and the whole computer is broken/bad. Sadly, we're in a really horrible time right now to cut down on eWaste, we have the Boomers (the ones who do not understand too much about computers) and older, who are still alive and believe that... :\
Then there's those in their 30s (forgot the generation name) and younger. While we're more well-acquainted with how computers work, still, even in my own generation, there are some people who just do not know any better. Some people, in my opinion, should not have a computer, since it is just too overwhelming for them. I can speak from firsthand experience being around a couple people like that.
Oh, and I almost forgot this demographic: Those who just do not care... We cannot fix this, as that's a personal preference and ignorance on their own part, but these are "too far gone" people. They just see it as disposable and throw the whole thing away. (Even though replacing 1 component net saves money than replacing the whole machine...)
Eh, I wouldn't make that 100% of the fault. Those that are "too far gone" find any reason to create waste, regardless if it's UEFI only or whatever. I'll just say this much: Computers will be more secure, and we'll have more offline machines than we did before Windows 10. I'm curious what my job will do, since they use Windows 7... 🤔
That's totally fine, you can justify it however you want, but at the same time, UEFI only future is coming, and this eWaste issue has always been happening. Every technology gets replaced and thrown away for modern hardware, regardless of what it is. I just embrace it up and move on, while not trying to add much to it myself.
Just because the ewaste issue has always been happening (that's a fallacy, by the way), it doesn't mean we should add mostly unnecessary things to create even more ewaste.
Also, you might have the money to be able to move on, but not everyone does. :)
That's true, but if you look at the fact that within the past 10 years (give or take some), most people have computers with motherboards that support both BIOS and UEFI. So it's not a major concern of mine. The GPUS on the other hand... that I am quite concerned with, especially Nvidia's latest (failed) attempt(s) to make miner only GPUs with no display output... :\
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