I know what you mean about savings. But the other way to look at it is that without the HBD you'd built up on Hive, you've have had to borrow money and then pay it back with interest, which is a far worse position to be in.
I've been getting the same nagging messages from Microsoft. Anyone would think they had shares in PC makers or something ! But I really, really don't want Windows 11. It's way too intrusive and I have serious concerns about the security of things like crypto keys with the reports I've seen of the data it collects and sends back to HQ. Luckily I've got an old PC as a contingency in case my business one fails, so I think it's about time I sat down and learned Linux which is less intrusive and also a lot more tolerant of lower-spec hardware.
I've been seriously considering the Linux option. And I know there are builds of Linux out there that have a shorter learning curve, so that might become an option.
I do have a laptop I can use as a backup "just in case," but it's not exactly new, either.
Whereas I am not entirely opposed to cloud storage, one of the things I don't like about it is that we live in an area that doesn't have reliable Internet in the winter... I need to be able to keep things available "client side," and most new systems block people from that. Maybe I can run and store certain stuff on an external hard drive.
=^..^=