What is hell is intuit doing telling me I have to upgrade to Win 11, I don't want that POS, they said it's for security, That's OK, i'll take my chances with Win 10.

[john_tsouris]

TT is not even remotely complex software. Windows 10 and 11 also both use the same NT kernel.  There is 0.000000% chance they're doing anything in it that cannot easily work on Windows 10.  This is a purposeful decision to lock out Windows 10 users, and Intuit's partnerships with Microsoft probably have everything to do with this.

[M-MTax]

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@john_tsouris wrote:

This is a purposeful decision to lock out Windows 10 users...

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We won't know for certain until after the 2025 desktop versions are released. 

[vetz76]

I agree with baldietax, it's all about driving everyone to the online version!

[M-MTax]

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@vetz76 wrote:

.......it's all about driving everyone to the online version!

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They could also simply jack up the prices on the desktop versions with the same, or even a better, result.

[Mike9241]

desktop requires humans. isn't online strictly AI? 

[M-MTax]

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@Mike9241 wrote:

desktop requires humans. isn't online strictly AI? 

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I don't have any idea but I am sure the profit margins are higher for online versions.

[JohnQT]

@baldietax 

I don't plan on "hacking Turbo to run on Win 10".  Nor do I plan to "hack" Windows 10 to make it look like Windows 11.  I just want to have a look at what TurboTax is doing to determine that it's running under Windows 11.  It might be so foolishly simple that a workaround could hardly be called a hack.  Again, Intuit will likely take the cheapest route possible to "enforce" their requirement for Windows 11, which is usually the easiest to implement (and workaround).

Also, I seriously doubt that Intuit will spend any money to add any functionality to their desktop product that requires features which are exclusive to Windows 11.  So there shouldn't be "any issues during your tax process with updates, forms, e-filing etc"

You are correct though that Intuit can simply refuse customer service if a support log shows anything that indicates that TurboTax is not actually running under Windows 11.  In that event we could do an in-place upgrade to Windows 11 if that's what it takes to get support from Intuit.  But as several others have pointed out here, in many cases that can be done without having to resort to purchasing a new PC.

In any case I simply won't let myself be driven by Intuit or Microsoft to spend money for a new PC when there's absolutely nothing wrong from a security standpoint with my current hardware.  I'll migrate to Linux and do my taxes on PDF forms if that's the only way to get out from under their corporate enforced "rules".

[JohnQT]

@M-MTax 

In my case the Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021 edition installed on my PC has an Extended Support end date of Jan 13, 2032.  So I have at least six more years of Windows 10 support from Microsoft on this hardware.  I'm not just kicking the can down the street for one more year of Windows 10.  But Intuit made a brain-dead decision to stop supporting Windows 10 period, apparently unaware (or not caring) that not everyone is running Home edition on their PC...

Seriously, at this point it's obvious that Intuit really doesn't want to support their desktop products on any version of Windows.  They probably should have just yanked the band-aid off and stopped selling desktop products altogether.  They've already ticked off enough of their desktop user base, might as well get the pain over with sooner rather than later...  🤥

[baldietax]

@JohnQT if you're on LTSC for the long term and this type of solution ends up working for you that's great, just pointing out the major support caveat for other folks hoping this is a path to put off Win 11 for a few months.  There was a steady flow of issues last year in this forum throughout tax season with installation, import, blank forms, updates etc that needed that support, hopefully 2025 will be more stable but we'll see.

[JohnQT]

@baldietax Sorry for the confusion regarding "issues", I meant to say that there shouldn't be any issues that are specific to Windows 10 vs. 11.  But yeah, there will certainly be more issues within the TurboTax application itself.  I hope I run across one of those myself so I can see what Intuit customer report says about the underlying operating system -- assuming I'm successful with getting TT to run under Windows 10.  🤞

[BobRay]

"The issue of PC replacements is an MS issue - they didn't extend support"

This is misleading.

Microsoft offered us a free one-year extension on Windows 10 updates, and they earlier announced that Windows 10 updates would be available in the future for $30 per year. A small price to pay to avoid going to Windows 11, imo. 

I agree with you that they're trying to drive us to the online version of TT, but you'd think they'd be putting some effort into making it have all the same features that are available in the desktop versions.

[baldietax]

I'd written "The issue of PC replacements is an MS issue - they didn't extend support (it ended 2 weeks ago), ESU is security life support to get off Win 10.  There are hacks to extend lifespan of old H/W which people are using to upgrade to Win 11.  Most people have to deal this in the next 12 months anyway whether they plan to use turbotax or not."

Folks have different understandings of "support", but to quote MS on page below - "Windows 10 support has ended"...

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/extended-security-updates

Yes you will continue to get updates under ESU but only for critical/important security patches.  Some people regard that as sufficient "support", that's fine.

Either way, I don't think MS or Intuit are changing direction on anything at this point.  If your goal is to put off Win 11 for as long as possible, then you'll need another tax process or workaround.

I agree with you regarding online if they close the functionality gap and forms mode etc and it becomes more like desktop workflow that would be one thing, just leaves the cost and privacy.  But I think it'll be some years before desktop goes away.

[M-MTax]

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@baldietax wrote:

......If your goal is to put off Win 11 for as long as possible, then you'll need another tax process or workaround.

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Right.....for now. I mean, H&R Block is supposedly supporting Windows 10 for their 2025 tax year products but there's no guarantee they will do so for the 2026 tax year (and they most likely won't).

I believe it is as we said earlier; people are postponing the inevitable.