Windows 10 support ends in 2025: Time to consider upgrading
Windows 10 will lose standard support in October 2025, as Microsoft has decided to remind users once again. Consequently, full-screen ads for the newer Windows 11 and computers utilising Copilot Plus AI appear in the system.
23 November 2024 18:36
The details are highlighted by The Verge. Full-screen offers in Windows are not new and are a well-known tactic used by Microsoft to promote other products. This time, the goal is justified - the manufacturer draws users' attention to the fact that Windows 10's standard support ends in a year and does not propose extending it for a fee, although that option will be available. Instead, it suggests upgrading to the newer Windows 11 - ideally when purchasing a new laptop.
The end of support for Windows 10 in October 2025 means the end of security updates. Theoretically, from that point on, the system will be unsafe to use, or at least more vulnerable to attacks exploiting known vulnerabilities. The most serious ones will likely still be patched for some time, but Microsoft will not be obligated to do so as a rule.
The information about the end of support for Windows 10 is significant because a remarkable majority of "Windows" users still use 10. According to statcounter data, in October 2024, almost 61 percent of Windows users were using Windows 10, while the newer 11 had a little over 35 percent. Interestingly, filtering the data to the Polish market results in only a slight adjustment - it is 60 and 38 percent of the market, respectively.
The lack of willingness to upgrade Windows 10 to 11, even though the process is free, may in many cases result from technical limitations. The newer system requires a TPM 2.0 module, which was not necessarily present on computer motherboards at the time of Windows 11's release. If users have not upgraded to newer computers since then (often they simply may not need to due to satisfactory performance), technically their hardware still does not meet Windows 11's minimum requirements, and its installation is not officially recommended.