Terry, if we could just clone you into half the population of America, I think most of our problems would be solved. Of course all the hot women would then be spoken for... and that would really piss me off! 
Seriously, the whole sheep thing upsets me too. By the way, for those of you have experienced that end of support message, it is generated from a process called:
Reusable UX interaction manager
That annoying message hijacks your entire desktop, including the task bar, and it does not have a close 'X' or close button. Alt +F4 didn't get rid of it for me. Since I always run Task manager, I had to use Alt+Tab to get get to Task Manager and close it. It has 'pooped' up three additional times since I first reported it, just like Steve the Amazing, said it would. I need to ask Steve if he sees a new pair of shoes in my future, because I intend to put the ones I'm currently wearing in MicroSoft's ASCII.
Edit: In regards to Linux, I checked Dell to see if they have any preinstalled packages. They do, but get this, 1 regular version and 3 A.I. versions. The 'regular' version is $1,100, but get this, the A.I. versions will set you back between $6000, and $8000. Obviously the prudent buyer would be better off hoping to figure out how to wipe a PC and install a copy of Linux from the internet. Sure, Steve and I can easily afford the A.I. versions, and I'm sure a lot of us older coders could, as well, but what would we be paying for? My guess is I'd get some damn female A.I. that would refuse to shut down because 'it' was right in the middle of streaming Robocop, or worse... The View. On the good news side, the cost for older Windows software has shrank considerably over the years, but I don't know if there would be problems with the license key.
Pete
Seriously, the whole sheep thing upsets me too. By the way, for those of you have experienced that end of support message, it is generated from a process called:
Reusable UX interaction manager
That annoying message hijacks your entire desktop, including the task bar, and it does not have a close 'X' or close button. Alt +F4 didn't get rid of it for me. Since I always run Task manager, I had to use Alt+Tab to get get to Task Manager and close it. It has 'pooped' up three additional times since I first reported it, just like Steve the Amazing, said it would. I need to ask Steve if he sees a new pair of shoes in my future, because I intend to put the ones I'm currently wearing in MicroSoft's ASCII.
Edit: In regards to Linux, I checked Dell to see if they have any preinstalled packages. They do, but get this, 1 regular version and 3 A.I. versions. The 'regular' version is $1,100, but get this, the A.I. versions will set you back between $6000, and $8000. Obviously the prudent buyer would be better off hoping to figure out how to wipe a PC and install a copy of Linux from the internet. Sure, Steve and I can easily afford the A.I. versions, and I'm sure a lot of us older coders could, as well, but what would we be paying for? My guess is I'd get some damn female A.I. that would refuse to shut down because 'it' was right in the middle of streaming Robocop, or worse... The View. On the good news side, the cost for older Windows software has shrank considerably over the years, but I don't know if there would be problems with the license key.
Pete
Shoot first and shoot people who ask questions, later.