Microsoft 365 vs Office 2024: Which Should You Buy?
Compare Microsoft 365 and Office 2024 by devices, apps, storage, updates, and renewal costs, with checks for regional licenses and your existing Office documents.
Read guide →Windows editions, licences and support dates
Some limits are set by edition and some by a date. Neither is on the product page: both come from the manufacturer’s terms and lifecycle documents, so check your own Windows version and how the licence was purchased before deciding.
Before choosing a task
- Check your Windows version with winver and look up when updates for it stop.
- Check feature by feature whether Home covers what you need or Pro is required.
- Put the cost and the deadline side by side for replacing, upgrading and extending.
Compare the options
Windows 11 Home vs Pro: When Is the Upgrade Worth It?
Compare Windows 11 Home and Pro for Remote Desktop, encryption, Hyper-V, and organization management, with checks to decide whether you need a paid upgrade.
Read guide →Still on Windows 10: choosing between ESU, an in-place Windows 11 upgrade and a new PC, from two published dates
Windows 10 support ended on 14 October 2025 and consumer ESU ends on 12 October 2027. Here are the three paths with the conditions, costs and deadlines Microsoft publishes, plus what to check on a used machine.
Read guide →Before buying a used business PC: how to read Windows 11's supported-CPU lists, and what "activated" does not prove
There is only so much you can check on an ex-lease business PC before it arrives. This guide separates what Microsoft's supported-processor lists are actually for, what Windows activation does not guarantee, and whether TPM is absent or merely switched off.
Read guide →Can a Windows licence move to a new PC? The two acquisition routes section 4 of the licence terms separates
"OEM cannot be moved, retail can" — where in the text does that come from? This guide reads section 4 of the Windows 11 licence terms Microsoft publishes, in both the English and Japanese editions, and sets out what each route is permitted to do and what conditions are attached.
Read guide →Windows 11 stops updating by version: check yours with winver against the published end dates
Each Windows 11 version has its own end of updates, and Home and Pro get 24 months from the feature update. Check your version with winver, read the right edition column in Microsoft's table, and see why version 26H1 matters when buying a new PC.
Read guide →Three ceilings to check before adding memory: your Windows edition, the board, and what is actually usable
More than one ceiling applies when you add RAM. Windows 11 Home stops at 128 GB, each motherboard publishes its own maximum, and installed capacity is never the same as usable capacity. The three, read from the official pages, in the order they bite.
Read guide →A self-encrypting SSD is not automatically an encrypted hard drive for Windows
Microsoft states outright that self-encrypting hard drives and encrypted hard drives for Windows are not the same type of device. What separates them, which conditions apply to the drive, the firmware and the controller, and which editions are listed.
Read guide →Installing Windows 11 on an unsupported PC: what Microsoft states will happen
Microsoft publishes the consequences: no support, updates including security updates not guaranteed, a desktop watermark, and a disclaimer about manufacturer warranty. What the page says, and where it points for rolling back.
Read guide →Does Windows 11 setup require a Microsoft account? What the specifications page actually says
Microsoft's specifications page states that Windows 11 Pro for personal use and Windows 11 Home require internet connectivity and a Microsoft account during initial device setup. How that differs from the belief that Pro avoids it, what you can do after setup, and how the account choice changes drive encryption.
Read guide →What S mode takes away on a cheap laptop: switching out is free, and permanent
Windows 11 in S mode installs only Microsoft Store apps, fixes Edge as the default browser and cannot domain join. Switching out costs nothing and cannot be undone. The restrictions to weigh before buying, and the conditions for switching, from Microsoft's own pages.
Read guide →Follow the steps
Secure Boot certificates expire in 2026: check your PC's state and know what actually stops
Microsoft's 2011 Secure Boot certificates begin expiring in June 2026. A PC that misses the update still starts and still gets Windows updates — what stops is new protection for the early boot process. Where to read your own status, and what each state means.
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