Tech Stuff is a software developer with an avid interest in classic design for applications and operating systems. He is highly focused and driven to achieve, innovative, and especially keen to develop tools which others can use and enjoy. He shows endless patience, and will always freely give his time to help, teach, explain and fix others’ computer problems.

He shares the frustration of many, that modern technology is definitely not user friendly, but is instead full of bloatware, has advertisements everywhere, takes loads of memory, and limits personal choice. He thus set out to offer simple customisable software solutions, so that people can once again enjoy simple, beautiful looking, user friendly operating systems.

Some of his more popular tools include UpDownTool which lets you upgrade from Windows 11 to Windows 10, and the automated customisable transformation pack, Revert8Plus. He is always developing new projects, continuing work on Revert8Plus, or planning innovative tools for the future.

All this he achieved whilst still holding down a full time job, so Tech Stuff would often work very long evenings and weekends to develop his own projects. And everything was ticking along well, until he was laid off.

Relying on his personal savings to pay living costs, Tech Stuff focused all his energy on developing his innovative software. At the time, these included ChatDot, a Discord competitor, which is still an experimental project, and the long awaited Revert8Plus v5, which promised to be the best Windows 7 transformation tool ever!

BetaNews, PCWorld, Neowin and other tech news sites continued to recognise his work, and as his projects became more widely publicised, increasing numbers of people came to download and use his software. There was a growing wave of positive feedback, and a small stream of donations started to arrive in recognition of his work. With donations totalling around £150 per month over six months, it was clear these would never cover living costs. But it was a very positive step towards building a business, so everything appeared to be going great.

Then out of the blue, came the news that his landlord was selling up, leaving Tech Stuff all of a sudden facing a no fault eviction. Things suddenly didn’t seem so clear any more. Whilst he was hopeful he could soon create an independent income, losing his home wasn’t something he had factored into the equation. With no official employment, he soon discovered that finding a new landlord was virtually impossible. And with his savings pot pretty much empty, he began asking a few friends if they could put him up for a while, only to find no joy.

Tech Stuff desperately needed somewhere to stay, where he could better focus on getting an income again. People kept asking him when v5 would be release, yet all the time he was struggling to find accommodation in the midst of having no money.

Tech Stuff moved into budget short term accommodation, paid from his credit card, and from the donations received.

Then, when it seemed things couldn’t get any worse, Tech Stuff’s monitor stopped working. With no funds for a replacement, he figured the only solution was to use his phone as a monitor, and with this he continued to work as best he could.

The payment processor, Buy Me a Coffee, which had successfully transferred donations over the past six months, failed to pay out any more. Because of Buy Me a Coffee failing to deliver, he reached the lowest point ever, knowing that if he didn’t find money within 24 hours, then by the next day he would be out on the streets.

In desperation, he put word out to those he knew, pleading for money. At the same time, he reorganised the payment methods for donating. Yet, with slow transaction times and the need to validate ID for new payment processing accounts, Tech Stuff still had to wait for what seemed like forever before he would be able to access any money. He set about refunding the many donations which were still sitting on hold, and hoped people wouldn’t mind donating again once their refund came through. All this time, he was constantly concerned about whether he would still have a roof over his head that night.

Fortunately, just hours before he was to lose his accommodation, a few amazing friends pulled together to pay for three more nights. They then suggested he start a GoFundMe page, aware that it was not okay for someone so dedicated and innovative, who freely gave so much of his time to help others, to be left in such a precarious situation, simply because of a series of bad luck.

Tech Stuff truly needs your help to get back on his feet. He needs some immediate financial security to ensure he can keep a roof over his head, afford food and basic necessities, and work on his computer from a safe place. During this time, the upcoming release of Revert8Plus v5 will hopefully start to bring a small income and, if its popularity grows, possibly something more substantial. Once the threat of homelessness has passed, Tech Stuff would look to find more suitable accommodation and buy a new monitor, whilst continuing to update and develop tools for the many people who already know of his work, and the many more who he hopes will be inspired by it in the future.

By donating to this GoFundMe page, you will be giving Tech Stuff the opportunity to leave the terrible insecurity of homelessness, so that he can become financially self-sufficient, and create the successful and inspiring future that he originally envisaged.

For anyone who can get support directly to Tech Stuff today, please consider using Square, which you can find on his official site.

Please share this page with anyone who might also wish to donate to this cause. Thank you.