Smallest of U-Turns on Windows 10 End Of Life

Microsoft has made a small concession in plans to effectively kill off Windows 10 later this year. However, continuing to use the system still looks likely to be a risky proposition.

Related:

• What Happens When Windows 10 Reaches End of Life?
• No Service Packs For Windows 10; Support ends 2025
• Win10 End-of-Life has Major Security Implications
• Company Promises to Patch Win10 After End of Life

Windows 10 End of Life: October, 2025

On October 25 this year, Windows 10 reaches its official end of support date, meaning Microsoft will no longer issue any security patches to most users. That's not a particularly unusual process for Windows versions, but users have two main gripes.

The first is that it was at least heavily implied Windows 10 would be the last ever edition of Windows and would simply continue to evolve through updates, something that proved not to be the case. The second is that Microsoft has imposed strict hardware requirements on Windows 11 that means many machines which are working fine today can't be upgraded at a reasonable cost.

Paid Security Option

Analysts continue to speculate on whether Microsoft will eventually back down or delay the end of support date. That's because it faces a vicious circle where it's a major security risk to have potentially tens of millions of Windows computers unprotected against bug exploitations, but continuing to offer security patches means many users would see no reason to upgrade to Windows 11.

Microsoft had already relented a little by offering home users the choice of paying to receive security updates for what it is implying is a one-year-only deal. As is more common with Windows, business users can pay for updates over the next three years, though the cost will double each year. (Source: laptopmag.com)

Microsoft 365 Reprieve

Now Microsoft has made another minor change, dropping plans to end support for Microsoft 365 apps on Windows 10. That's the cloud version of what was originally known as Office tools such as Word and Excel, meaning the bulk of the storage and processing is done online rather than the user's computer.

Microsoft now says that "To help maintain security while you transition to Windows 11, Microsoft will continue providing security updates for Microsoft 365 Apps on Windows 10 for three years after Windows 10 reaches end of support." (Source: xda-developers.com)

This doesn't change the fact that running Windows 10 will, in theory at least, be a security risk when updates end (either in October or a year later for home users who take up the paid updates option). However, it does mean better protection against attacks that involve bugs in Office tools or spreading compromised Office documents. It's also a sign Microsoft is willing to make some concessions, raising questions about whether it really will pull the plug on security patches for Windows 10 as scheduled.

What's Your Opinion?

If you run Windows 10, does this news make any changes to your plans? Has Microsoft make upgrading to Windows 11 easy enough to justify ending support for Windows 10? Do you think it will stop supporting Windows 10 as planned if it still has a large user base?