Microsoft can’t kill Home windows 10.
The US firm has already confirmed that it’ll finish assist for Home windows 10 in October 2025 — reducing off tens of millions of PCs from important safety updates and bug fixes. With out these important software program patches, Home windows 10 customers can be weak to assaults from hackers and different knowledge breaches.
Because of the recognition of Home windows 10, Microsoft has confirmed plans to increase its Prolonged Safety Updates (ESU) subscription to on a regular basis customers for the primary time. Beforehand reserved for enterprise clients, the annual plan might price as a lot as £330 to unlock an additional three years of vital safety updates.
Many assumed the fast-approaching deadline — to not point out, the specter of having to spend tons of on software program updates — would spur tens of millions of PC customers nonetheless counting on Home windows 10 to lastly make the change to its successor, Home windows 11.
However the variety of individuals utilizing Home windows 10 day-after-day is rising, in response to the most recent figures from Statcounter. The favored web site, which displays and analyses international net site visitors to calculate the recognition of units, net browsers, and working system, has recorded an increase within the variety of individuals utilizing Home windows 10.
PCs powered by this nearly decade-old working system topped 70% for the primary time since late 2023.
The rise recorded in April 2024 was roughly 1%, Statcounter exhibits. Throughout the identical time-frame, Home windows 11’s market share dipped barely to 25.69%, suggesting the rise in individuals utilizing Home windows 10 got here on the expense of its successor. That is a severe blow for Microsoft.
Microsoft has beforehand confirmed there are roughly 1.4 billion Home windows PCs worldwide. At that scale, a 1% enhance in individuals flocking to Home windows 10 equates to an astonishing 14,000,000 PC customers.
Supply: StatCounter World Stats – Home windows Model Market Share
With the launch of a brand new working system, we might sometimes count on to see the variety of units powered by its predecessor declining over time. This occurs as customers voluntarily change to the most recent software program to get their fingers on thrilling new options or a classy new look and as extra units with the most recent working system preinstalled are bought.
It is uncommon to see an older working system regain traction in its twilight years — particularly with the specter of the tip of assist and a brand new price looming lower than 18 months away.
Those that need to preserve utilizing Home windows 10 till 2028 might want to spend as a lot as $427, roughly £337.29 transformed, to proceed to obtain important patches for safety flaws and compatibility points in Home windows 10, Microsoft has confirmed.
Should you missed the memo, Microsoft will finish assist for Home windows 10, which was launched worldwide in July 2015 and was broadly marketed on the time because the “last” iteration of Home windows, on October 14, 2025.
Referred to as Prolonged Safety Updates (ESU), this subscription unlocks as much as three years of extra assist for ageing working techniques, extending the lifecycle of Home windows 10 till the tip of 2028. ESU was beforehand reserved for companies to supply 36 months of extra time to replace their complete fleet of PCs and prepared proprietary software program to work with the most recent working system from Microsoft.
Home windows 10 marks the primary time Microsoft will supply Prolonged Safety Updates to anybody.
Microsoft has revealed the price of Home windows 10 ESU for enterprise customers, with the primary yr setting you again $61 (£48.19). To incentivise Home windows 10 customers to improve to the following iteration of the desktop working system, Microsoft will double the associated fee yearly. The total breakdown of prices is as follows:
- Home windows 10 ESU — $61 (£48.19) for first yr
- Home windows 10 ESU — $122 (£96.39) for second yr
- Home windows 10 ESU — $244 (£192.78) for third and last yr
That is not the associated fee for customers, with Microsoft promising that pricing for the common Home windows 10 consumer “can be shared at a later date.” Nonetheless, we’re prone to see the identical pricing construction, with prices doubling annually to attempt to push individuals to lastly change away from Home windows 11.
Microsoft describes the non-obligatory Prolonged Safety Updates subscription as “a final resort choice for purchasers who have to run sure legacy Microsoft merchandise previous the tip of assist.” It provides a most of 36 months of extra safety updates and emergency bug fixes.
“Prolonged Safety Updates aren’t meant to be a long-term answer however relatively a brief bridge,” the Redmond-based firm explains in a weblog put up. “You should purchase ESU licenses for Home windows 10 units that you just don’t plan to improve to Home windows 11 beginning in October 2024, one yr earlier than the tip of assist date.”
Companies who’re subscribed to a cloud-based answer like Intune or Home windows Autopatch will take pleasure in a 25% low cost on Prolonged Safety Updates. Microsoft is providing an much more beneficiant low cost to varsities, with the primary yr of ESU dropping to simply $1 (79p), this doubles to $2 for yr two and $4 for the ultimate yr.
Costs have risen sharply for Home windows customers seeking to postpone the improve to the following main working system launch from Microsoft. When it launched the ESU plan was launched for Home windows 7, Microsoft charged £9.57 for the primary yr, rising to £19.15 within the second yr.
That price was per gadget, so issues can change into fairly dear if in case you have a number of units, like a laptop computer, desktop PC, or pill.
Some trade watchers had speculated that Microsoft can be compelled to supply prolonged assist for Home windows 10 at no further price as a result of huge variety of PCs nonetheless powered by the working system.
Nonetheless, regardless of the widespread utilization, Microsoft is seemingly set on charging for the privilege.
This has allowed rival Google to reap the benefits of the scenario to bolster its personal marketshare of desktop PCs by providing a free improve for all Home windows 10 customers to its ChromeOS system, which is predicated on the world’s hottest net browser and boasts years of safety updates and assist.
There’s no assure that your present PC will have the ability to improve to Home windows 11. With this rebooted working system, Microsoft launched a number of strict system necessities.
Home windows 11 solely formally helpsIntel’s eighth Era (referred to as Espresso Lake) or Zen 2 CPUs and newer, leaving tens of millions of gadgets bought with Home windows 10 preinstalled unable to improve.
Following a public backlash, Microsoft did add quite a lot of exceptions to its checklist of supported chipsets, together with the seventh Era Intel Core i7-7820HQ – a processor that was used within the Floor Studio 2, an all-in-one desktop machine that price £3,549 at launch again in 2018.
Nonetheless, this marks the primary time that Microsoft has enforced such particular processor necessities with its working system improve.
As compared, Home windows 8 and Home windows 10 solely stipulated a 1GHz processor, a minimum of 1GB of RAM, and 16GB of obtainable storage. Home windows 11 requires an Intel processor first launched in October 2017 in addition to 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.
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Based on Microsoft, the stricter silicon necessities allow a greater expertise for these operating Home windows 11, with a 60% discount in malware because of the necessities that “allow protections like Home windows Whats up, Gadget Encryption, virtualization-based safety (VBS), hypervisor-protected code integrity (HVCI) and Safe Boot.” It additionally claims a “99.8% crash free expertise” on machines with elements from its checklist of supported {hardware}.