“What is the average lifespan of a laptop that doesn’t get infected with any viruses?”

(Answer requested by Miguel Camino)

Laptop hardware and usage varies hugely, and viruses (which don’t usually damage hardware) have little to do with it.

At one end, you might have a cheapo laptop that bangs around in a student’s backpack and lives in a dorm; and at the other, a high-end, graphic-artist’s laptop, professionally maintained in a clean, cool, corporate office. Those laptops will have very different “average lifespans.”

Do you mean the hardware itself? Transistors, resistors, and such, can last for decades or centuries. Heck, I bet future museums will have capable-of-working display versions of today’s computers, even hundreds of years from now.

Software? The supported lifespan of operating systems is usually less than 10 years —- but the old software still works. It just won’t be supported or updated anymore.

And what about the user? Someone just watching YouTube and sending texts will have little incentive to upgrade; an old PC will do just fine and can have a very long service life. But if someone is into, say, 4K/VR gaming, they may want to upgrade hardware at least annually — a very short service life indeed — to keep up with evolving specs.

You might as well ask: How long does a chair last? How long does a house last? How long does a pair of shoes last?

You need a lot more specificity before you can get a meaningful answer.

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