Windows 10 Support 'Ends' Today (arstechnica.com) 68
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Today is the official end-of-support date for Microsoft's Windows 10. That doesn't mean these PCs will suddenly stop working, but if you don't take action, it does mean your PC has received its last regular security patches and that Microsoft is washing its hands of technical support. This end-of-support date comes about a decade after the initial release of Windows 10, which is typical for most Windows versions. But it comes just four years after Windows 10 was replaced by Windows 11, a version with stricter system requirements that left many older-but-still-functional PCs with no officially supported upgrade path. As a result, Windows 10 still runs on roughly 40 percent of the world's Windows PCs (or around a third of US-based PCs), according to StatCounter data.
But this end-of-support date also isn't set in stone. Home users with Windows 10 PCs can enroll in Microsoft's Extended Security Updates (ESU) program, which extends the support timeline by another year. [...] Home users can only get a one-year stay of execution for Windows 10, but IT administrators and other institutions with fleets of Windows 10 PCs can also pay for up to three years of ESUs, which is also roughly the amount of time users can expect new Microsoft Defender antivirus updates and updates for core apps like Microsoft Edge. Obviously, Microsoft's preferred upgrade path would be either an upgrade to Windows 11 for PCs that meet the requirements or an upgrade to a new PC that does support Windows 11. It's also still possible, at least for now, to install and run Windows 11 on unsupported PCs. Your day-to-day experience will generally be pretty good, though installing Microsoft's major yearly updates (like the upcoming Windows 11 25H2 update) can be a bit of a pain.
But this end-of-support date also isn't set in stone. Home users with Windows 10 PCs can enroll in Microsoft's Extended Security Updates (ESU) program, which extends the support timeline by another year. [...] Home users can only get a one-year stay of execution for Windows 10, but IT administrators and other institutions with fleets of Windows 10 PCs can also pay for up to three years of ESUs, which is also roughly the amount of time users can expect new Microsoft Defender antivirus updates and updates for core apps like Microsoft Edge. Obviously, Microsoft's preferred upgrade path would be either an upgrade to Windows 11 for PCs that meet the requirements or an upgrade to a new PC that does support Windows 11. It's also still possible, at least for now, to install and run Windows 11 on unsupported PCs. Your day-to-day experience will generally be pretty good, though installing Microsoft's major yearly updates (like the upcoming Windows 11 25H2 update) can be a bit of a pain.
Good - no more rebooting (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm glad my windows machines wont be rebooting in the middle of the night now to install a new update that says I should upgrade to windows 11.
We're now free (Score:5, Funny)
Free from the threat of constant software updates that add some unwanted feature to the system or reset privacy settings to defaults that permit microsoft to steal photos of your children for "training purposes".
Re:We're now free (Score:4, Interesting)
Yeah, if you have good data management and security practices why not just stay on windows 10 forever? That's my plan. I have windows 11 on one of my computers and it really is gross, the features they removed, the ai, the ads that pop up piped in directly from microsoft.
And yes, I have to use windows for certain things I do, otherwise I would switch to linux.
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And it looks like garbage. If I wanted a confusing linux desktop environment I would run linux.
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Linux is great... until you need to run some program that's Windows-only... sure, I can install Windows in a VM thing and run it there (the Windows-only program) at a significant performance hit.
Or... you need me to walk you through how to do something in Mint 10 or whatever, and I only know RedHat20 or something... if both of us have Win10, I can just explain it.
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Linux desktop environments (DEs) are generally (...)
Did you really just define an acronym for that slashdot post?
Acronym expansion is good (Score:2)
Linux desktop environments (DEs) are generally (...)
Did you really just define an acronym for that slashdot post?
That's good practice when writing anything that any of your readers might not understand. You just have to provide the expansion at the first mention, which doesn't cost much time or space. There are so many acronyms, abbreviations, and in-jargon terms that it's very easy to get confused. And I hope Slashdot articles are sometimes read by people other than the regular suspects.
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because theres zero ways to customize windows like cmon guy there are like 7 different tools to turn windows 10 and 11 into windows 7 interface to say nothing of shit like rainmeter
you navel gazers really think actual windows-heads dont have their systems looking how they want within 30 minutes of a new install. come on richard you know better
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There are more limits to how Windows can be customized. For example, I could not find a way to make Windows 8 or 10 look like Windows 2000 (or Windows 7 "Classic" theme). OTOH, it is possible to make KDE look like it, it's not exact, but good enough.
Re:We're now free (Score:4, Interesting)
That said, Microsoft backported most of the data collection, advertising, and AI bloatware "enhancements" to the later releases of Windows 10 as well. If you left the default privacy raping settings go, it's basically as bad as Windows 11 now.
Hell, at this point they're even inserting CoPilot and OneDrive into the Mac versions of Office whether you want it or not.
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> ads that pop up piped in directly from Microsoft.
When did Windows turn into a shitty mobile game?
I love the smell of software updates in the mornin (Score:3)
You could always try Arch Linux. And update your software 3 times a week.
Re: I love the smell of software updates in the mo (Score:2)
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If I upgrade my NVIDIA drivers, most of my 3D apps won't start until I reboot. So if stuff like Steam refuse to start, I just assume I need to reboot. The era of 100+ day uptimes is over, at least for desktop Linux.
I think having a modular and robust operating system took a back seat to the hundred of other concerns that go into a desktop OS.
But I can't complain too much. Wifi, webcam, and microphone/headset all work for me on Linux. Literally using it every day, and counting on them for my job. 15-20 years
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Historically, Linux distros just updated without requiring reboots or anything (except for kernel updates), just replacing the files while things running. Now, Ubuntu refuses to update my Firefox before I stop it - very Windows like :-(.
Yes, Ubuntu seems to have Windows envy, and Snap is a raging dumpster fire. But tarring "Linux distros" in general for Shuttleworth's misdeeds is unfair.
Try Linux Mint - I favour the XFCE edition, but you may find Cinnamon, MATE, or KDE more to your liking. I never have to reboot my system because of updates, although when a new kernel is pushed I usually reboot sooner rather than later.
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Isn't that how EpsteinGPT was invented?
Congrats! y'all are free of security patches (Score:1, Troll)
Your prize will be a full screen notification saying: pay 50,000,000 satochis or else...
Better register on the Free-ish ESU and tolerate 12 more months of patch Tuesdays and updates... Those security updates that re-start your machine and may break things are better than the alternatives.
And yes, I know that your digital hygiene is top notch,
and also that you do not need condoms because your pull out strategy is flawless and the rubbing for an extended period will not derive in AIDS, gonorrea or siphilis...
I miss antitrust law enforcement (Score:2)
But since we stopped any semblance of antitrust law enforcement 25 years ago that's right out the door and we can all just suck it the fuck down.
Never mind the fact that there are absolutely no viable competitors to Microsoft besides Apple and if you play games apple is not a viable competitor...
The bullshit they are pulling in Windows 11 is exactl
And of course we need more and more and more (Score:1)
Antitrust. Whatever the problem in our society the actual solution is always always more antitrust law enforcement so we can go back to having competition. Capitalism without competition is just fascism.
Market consolidation and a complete lack of antitrust law enforcement means that if you try to go fast and break things you will either get run out of business or if you're really really lucky a few million bucks tossed your way to go away.
I suspect if we had proper antitrust law enforcement HP would not be
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Capitalism without competition is just fascism.
Unfortunately, capitalists (especially the most successful ones) loathe and detest competition. That's why markets always tend towards monopoly and/or monopsony. Microsoft and Amazon are shining examples. Also, I suspect, Oracle judging by Larry Ellison's bank account.
The beginning of a new era (Score:5, Interesting)
For the past 25 years, there have always been between 2 and 5 concurrently-supported versions of Windows Desktop:
For the first time ever, there is now exactly ONE supported version of Windows Desktop (excluding the various feature updates, and also excluding the Enterprise LTSC versions because, let's face it, nobody's legitimately running those at home). I'm sure Microsoft is thrilled that they don't have to worry about supporting old desktops anymore (aside from the people paying for up to 3 years of extended support).
Re:The beginning of a new era (Score:5, Insightful)
For the first time ever, there is now exactly ONE supported version of Windows Desktop
They are just herding in the stragglers. We must be getting close to the abattoir.
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There's one if you consider all the variants of Windows 11 to be one OS, which they kind of are. But there's at least the IOT version, the home version, the pro version, the enterprise version. Then there is are the ARM variants as well.
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For the first time ever, there is now exactly ONE supported version of Windows Desktop (excluding the various feature updates, and also excluding the Enterprise LTSC versions because, let's face it, nobody's legitimately running those at home).[...] I'm sure Microsoft is thrilled that they don't have to worry about supporting old desktops anymore (aside from the people paying for up to 3 years of extended support).
You are forgeting Win NT 3.1 itself. From the introduction of Win NT 31. until the introduction of NT 3.51, there was only one vcersion of WinNT in active support.
Jokes aside, we are getting close to Win12 Plan. accordingly.
Jokes aside (this time for realsies), Win12 will only come when the minimum hardware changes so much that a clean branding break is mandatory. It behooves microsoft if all versions of Windows are called the same, even if, internally they differ a lot. You are seeing this now witn win11.
W
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>(excluding the various feature updates, and also excluding the Enterprise LTSC versions because, let's face it, nobody's legitimately running those at home)
I'd be surprised if there were exactly zero people who legitimately use Enterprise LTSC versions at home.
More likely, it's in the less-than-1-per-thousand but more-than-one-per-million legitimate installations of Windows Enterprise that are in a residence (primarily remote workers in corporate environments).
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-- Win10 Enterprise IoT LTSC on both Windows machines (the free Mac is High Sierra forever)... if you look in the right places, you can find a GitHub program called LTSConvert that is just a powershell script that can do an in-place upgrade.
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>free Mac is High Sierra forever
It doesn't have to be [github.com].
Note: Don't try to install macOS 26, OpenCore Legacy Patcher doesn't support it, yet.
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It can barely run High Sierra... it's one of these... https://everymac.com/systems/a... [everymac.com]
Problem was 6 years between OSes (Score:3, Interesting)
XP to Vista had 5 years between OSes, but XP got free updates for 12 1/2 years.
Microsoft would've had much better PR and a much safer Windows ecosystem* if they extended free, no-strings-attached Windows 10 support until 7 years after Windows 11 shipped, until October 2028. By then, the number of Windows-11-incapable computers still running Windows 10 on the internet** will be much lower than it is today.
* In about 4 weeks, bad guys will release "never to be patched for free" exploits to millions of vulner
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Well, yeah... don't download stuff from untrusted (read: not the official site) sources, if someone gives you a thumbdrive it's normal practice not to let it run anything without you checking it... Windows Defender is crap, check it with SpyBot (and, if you know enough, scan now and then with HiJackThis... just be really careful what you check for fixing... you can cripple Windows with 2 clicks).
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You can look to what was happening during those years to see why some things happen the way they do. Windows XP came out during the tech slowdown following the year 2000 and crash in the tech sector. Many of you don't remember how Y2K came, and how Wall Street and almost all news outlets were playing it as though there was never a true problem to be concerned with for Y2K, then how the supply of venture capital dried up in 2000, meaning, the startups were failing left and right due to not having access
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Good. I rather they focus on one. I mean, I doubt they'll even get that right.
Rufus (Score:5, Informative)
For those of you who want to upgrade to Windows 11, but have a machine that doesn't officially support it, there's Rufus. https://rufus.ie/en/ [rufus.ie]
It uses a legitimate Windows 11 ISO, which you download yourself from Microsoft's website using the Media Creation Tool. Once you have that, Rufus will use it to make a bootable USB stick that installs Windows, bypassing the TPM and other requirements.
Rufus is quite handy (Score:2)
Not just for Windows, it works for writing Linux .iso images too.
Re:Rufus (Score:5, Informative)
For those of you who want to upgrade to Windows 11, but have a machine that doesn't officially support it, there's Rufus. https://rufus.ie/en/ [rufus.ie]
It uses a legitimate Windows 11 ISO, which you download yourself from Microsoft's website using the Media Creation Tool. Once you have that, Rufus will use it to make a bootable USB stick that installs Windows, bypassing the TPM and other requirements.
I like RUFUS and the bypases. Problems with running Win11 on unsupported hardware are:
* If you install Win11 on non-compliant hardware, yearly upgrades (say from Win11 24h2 to Win11 25h2) are a pain in the ass. And not automatic. So, you have to deal with a yearly paion in the ass, or be as insecure as on unsupported Win10*.
* If your non-compliant's machine (i/d)GPU lacks WDDM2.0 drivers, your display will be slow as hell and look like ass
* If your non-compliant machine has hardware that lacks Windows Desktop Universal Drivers, said hardware will not work (or work like crap with generic drivers), as Win11 does not support the older Windows Universal Drivers.
* If your non-compliant Win10 machine lacks the bibs abd bobs needed for HVCI (3rd gen or older intel), your machine may fail in the future.
* If your machine has the HVCI Stuff, but lacks the MBEC stuff (4th to 6th gen intel), you will have performance degradations (depending on workload).
* If you game on a non compliant Win11 machine, and you do not have TPM2.0 or SecureBoot for reasons, many a game (doubly so those that use anti-cheetos) will refuse to load.
Stay on Win10 + ESU for this year, and re-evaluate on july next year. At least, if in 2026 you decide on rufus, you'll save yourself the 25h2 to 26h2 pain in the ass, as you will go straight to 26h2.
* My brother is doing exactly that stupidity with the 7 desktops of his SMB. Last year I found the machines running 23h2, and I can bet pennies to dimes that they are still like that.
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What's the big deal? (Score:1)
4 years is a lot of time to hold on to an ancient PC (most likely you have a 10+ year old computer if it doesn't meet windows 11 spec.) Ok, let's say you can't upgrade because you fell on hard times-- it happens to everyone .. then switch to Linux for fuck's sake. I don't see why Microsoft has to keep supporting 4 year old shit especially if it still works. I wouldn't hook it up a Windows 10 PC internet though that's irresponsible/negligent like walking into a public place without a COVID mask.
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*last sentence got scrambled, fucking AI
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4 years is a lot of time to hold on to an ancient PC (most likely you have a 10+ year old computer if it doesn't meet windows 11 spec.) Ok, let's say you can't upgrade because you fell on hard times-- it happens to everyone .. then switch to Linux for fuck's sake. I don't see why Microsoft has to keep supporting 4 year old shit especially if it still works. I wouldn't hook it up a Windows 10 PC internet though that's irresponsible/negligent like walking into a public place without a COVID mask.
Agree 107%. Also, the ESU is open to normies like us for the first time ever. Take advantage of that! One more years of support for free-ish is a great deal.
Hooking your cellphone to a Google or icloud account is way worse than hooking your desktop to an MS (or iCloud) account, and I guess the people whailing and ripping their vests and throwing ash on themselves over microsoft requiring an account for the ESU hook their phones to google or apple without batting an eye, or any second tought.
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A lot of systems don't have TPM support which is a requirement for Windows 11, even more recent hardware. It's easily possible to upgrade all the parts of the PC and have a fairly high end system that's not compatible with Windows 11
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:4, Interesting)
4 years is a lot of time to hold on to an ancient PC (most likely you have a 10+ year old computer if it doesn't meet windows 11 spec.) Ok, let's say you can't upgrade because you fell on hard times-- it happens to everyone .. then switch to Linux for fuck's sake. I don't see why Microsoft has to keep supporting 4 year old shit especially if it still works.
The real crux of the problem is the '10s were not great for CPU performance increases. They shipped like 7 (?) generations of CPU's with basically the same single thread speed, and a bunch of horrible security issues like spectre & meltdown, etc... All you got were more cores, useless instruction sets, more memory, and near the end of the '10s NVMe & finally some better single thread speeds. Windows 10 was advertised as the "last version of Windows", etc... Win 7 to Win 10 was free for existing COA's... Expectations were set. Bargains were plenty...
I actually ran an old Dell T3500 (circa 2011) as a gaming rig until '22. I picked it up used for $75. I swapped out the HDD for an SSD, put a modern GPU in it, and swapped the 4 core workstation CPU for a 6c/12t server Xeon. 48Gb of interleaved triple channel DDR3 gets close to early dual channel DDR4 speeds, not really but close enough... The Win 7 COA allowed me to update to Win 10. I got 99fps on most of the games I play. The only downsides was no microcode updates, and the 130+ watt TDP. Otherwise it was a tank.
In the end I bit the bullet and built a replacement rig from new parts. The newer Ryzen 7's, PCIe4 GPU's and faster DDR4 memory finally made it worth the trouble. I did what I could to de-fang Windows 11, and I do most of my important work on Linux via my homelab cluster. The money I saved skipping several generations of PC's was used to build a homelab, and take some training. And that's the crux here... They forced customers to spend money that didn't land in M$'s pocket. That's a bad precedent to set. I've been assuming the Spectre/Meltdown stuff was some of the motivation, but the newer CPU's don't seem to have fully closed the hole.
T
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Both Windows machines *could* run Win11... most definitely the "beast" in the livingroom (Threadripper 3960, 128gigs RAM, TitanX video, 2 NVMEs and 7 spinning drives, built-in WiFi and Bluetooth... the design of Win11 is garbage... they tried to make it look like a Mac with the center 'Start' button, and I'm willing to bet that all the graphics crap alone is gonna rely solely on GPU.
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There haven't been much performance increases or features since Haswell, other than increased core counts.
People have been perfectly fine with that for the things they have been using PCs for.
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My going on 10-ish years old TPM-less PC, which was decently specced at the time with a then fast Intel processor, 16 GB RAM and a GTX 1070, runs pretty much everything ok. Probably because I don't care about the latest AAA games, and I'm not into 4K monitors, a bazillion fps, etc. The only reason I was even considering replacing it, was the end of support (no security updates is a deal breaker). Solution was to install Linux Mint. I mentally prepared myself for not being able to play any of my non-Linux St
Who needs this "support"? (Score:4, Informative)
W10 ESU updates and correct checksums will promptly leak for those who care.
I upgraded to Linux long ago so I'm looking forward to more hardware being sold off.
Please, Don't Tease!!! (Score:2)
Today is the official end-of-support date for Microsoft's Windows 10. That doesn't mean these PCs will suddenly stop working,
Last Version of Windows (Score:5, Interesting)
Who can I sue? I thought Microsoft said that Windows 10 would be "the last version of windows [pcmag.com]"
Should I spend all the money to upgrade to a new computer just so I can run Windows 11 for a few years?
Should I stay on defunct Windows 10 until Windows 12 is available? I would surely be upset if I bought a Win11 capable computer only to learn Win12 has all new incompatible requirements.
Has anyone reviewed the environmental impact of making all of the Win10 hardware go to the landfills?
I guess I will have to look up the best Linux option and make the move. The year of Linux has arrived for me. Thanks Microsoft!
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Well, you know, you can continue to get security updates for Windows 10 for another year. It's not hard.
And if you're still on hardware that doesn't support Windows 11, then you could probably upgrade to a new PC for under $200. If you have a device that old you probably don't require a lot from your PC.
Thank you Microsoft (Score:2)
Windows 8 was enough for our company to switch to Linux (EDA tools) and Macs.
And as older Intel Macs enter Apple's EOL list, they make excellent Linux machines.
Win11 "pretty good"? I don't think so... (Score:3, Interesting)
In the two hours I have used it, it crashed on me twice, each time requiring a reboot. One was the file-explorer crashing. Same software, same hardware was rock-solid with win10 before. Win11 is a lemon.
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In the two hours I have used it, it crashed on me twice, each time requiring a reboot. One was the file-explorer crashing. Same software, same hardware was rock-solid with win10 before. Win11 is a lemon.
You have bad hardware bro. I am no Windows 11 evangelist but I do have enough experience to know that file explorer crashing is insufficient to take down the entire operating system without an underlying issue of bad hardware.
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No, I do not. The hardware was rock-solid under win10 and still is under Linux. This is just Win11 being crap.
Just curious... (Score:2)
When does Windows 11 support start ? I'd rather be running OS/2, or CP/M.
Have a zero day exploit? Time to party! (Score:2)
win10 to Kubuntu (Score:2)
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I didn't even think to try Kubuntu! It's been a while since I dabbled with Linux. I just went straight to Mint and setup Firefox and Plex. I may have to see what Kubuntu is looking like these days.
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If you want an Ubuntu with KDE, consider using KDE Neon as distribution. It is Ubuntu LTS with the latest KDE (instead of one as old as the rest of the LTS packages).
biggest impediment (Score:2)
The biggest impediment to my productivity has been endless windows updates at inconvenient times and in ways that break things. End of windows 10 support is a big win for my productivity. Most malware these days results from phishing or bad choices in what to download or websites to look at. Good hygiene prevents VD and also malware.
The attitudes are actually funny (Score:2)
Every commercial product has an eventual end of support from the manufacturer, so people complaining when Windows goes for ten years and then loses support(and patches) should be seen as very normal. We do NOT live in a time when the operating system is a subscription service that you MUST pay every year to continue to use, or even to get support for during the support period.
So, you don't like Windows 11, yea, there are a lot of things in the world not to like, but then, to expect SUPPORT and updates for
Watch that wording (Score:2)
"Home users can only get a one-year stay of execution for Windows 10,"
Yes, because Micro$soft is a government and police force, and you are a criminal for not wanting to upgrade.
Words are power and you are giving the wrong people that power.