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Microsoft extends free Windows 10 security updates into 2026

arstechnica.com

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Re: Microsoft extends free Windows 10 security updates into 2026

#51

Post by speedgoose »

airstrike wrote: post #38
eviks wrote: post #14

> Microsoft's efforts do seem to be paying off (or, at least, some combination of Microsoft's efforts and Windows 10 PCs naturally aging out of the install base). While Windows 10 is still running on the majority of Windows PCs worldwide (about 53 percent, according to Statcounter's May 2025 data) 53% is huge mere months away from the end, and actually means that the efforts have resoundingly failed.

In order to make that claim you'd need to compare it with rates in past upgrade cycles to see if it's worse or better.

I am not sure. The world is different. Perhaps Windows 11 is doing better than Windows Vista or Windows Me, but does it matter?

Re: Microsoft extends free Windows 10 security updates into 2026

#52

Post by mystified5016 »

goosedragons wrote: post #47
paulkrush wrote: post #4

Microsoft announced that you can extend Windows 10 support if you enroll in Microsoft Backup or purchase “Microsoft Points.” Just think if they get printer manufacturers in on this, just to keep your ink cartridges “authentic” and up to date, and you can keep using Windows 10. And so on... It’s interesting/unsettling to extrapolate a dystopian future from these moves. Keiichi Matsuda’s short film “Hyper-Reality”: htt…

You don't purchase Microsoft points. You can purchase extra support with 1000 Microsoft points that you can easily get for free in like a week clicking on some links on Bing.

That's paying for them with your time. You'd be better off spending that time earning money for yourself instead of Microsoft's ad network

Re: Microsoft extends free Windows 10 security updates into 2026

#53

Post by mystified5016 »

_mlbt wrote: post #3
bell-cot wrote: post #2

As the article's title notes, with strings attached .

Windows 10 came out almost 10 years ago and they offered a free upgrade to Windows 11. I know people love to hate on Microsoft, but they’ve done better than most technology companies when it comes to security updates here. You’re lucky to get even half of that length of support from most Android devices for example.

It's not a free upgrade if you have no choice

Re: Microsoft extends free Windows 10 security updates into 2026

#55

Post by mystified5016 »

hhh wrote: post #32
GeekyBear wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I know people love to hate on Microsoft People rag on a company that is trying to force you to use an online account to log onto your local PC? Doesn't using Windows Backup to qualify for these extended Windows 10 security updates require that you purchase more than the default amount of cloud storage too?

they don’t force you to use an online account

Technically being able to opt out of a Microsoft account by solving a puzzle wrapped in a riddle that Microsoft changes every few months is as close to forced as their legal team is willing to go.

Re: Microsoft extends free Windows 10 security updates into 2026

#56

Post by throwcarsales »

eviks wrote: post #49
Xelbair wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

anecdotal evidence, but even my non-IT friends prefer to try out Linux than upgrade to w11. Meanwhile most corporate already swapped to w11. 53% is a huge failure on MS part, but that's what happens when you design OS to be a bad copy of your competition.

Interesting, how many of your friends stuck with Linux after trying out?

Just one data point, but I have gone full Linux Mint on almost all my computers. Being a MS guy since 1991 at 7 years old. Remember being in aw at windows 95 at 11-12. Avoided apples my whole life.

Seeing how much better my friends apple computers ran than my modern windows computers, I just went full Linux. Loving it. Telling my parents and friends to consider it instead of buying a new computer to replace the 'slow one'.

Re: Microsoft extends free Windows 10 security updates into 2026

#57

Post by mjevans »

princevegeta89 wrote: post #33
KronisLV wrote: post #13

I have to say that after switching to Windows 11, I don't hate it as much as I thought I would. I'm still a bit upset that they took away vertical taskbars from us, but some things like multi-GPU support is better than in Windows 10: https://blog.kronis.dev/blog/what-is-ruining-dual-gpu-setups On the other hand, for whatever reason Windows 11 right now refuses to install updates (I think the logs complained about the…

Not sure man, I just want a version of Microsoft Windows without all the telemetry and the ads and the aggressive control Microsoft has on the system via updates. Time and again they keep changing the default browser, throwing ads into Start Menu, blocking specific applications (such as Chrome etc. Bad example because Chrome is an evil junkyard. Imagine them blocking Google Drive one day because they want you to use…

Now having used an OSX laptop at work, my main pain points are how _everything_ seems to be different for the sake of being different (keeping legacy Macintosh-isms).

My main pain points:

* Keyboard combinations, can't 'theme' them to just work like every other popular platform.

* Docking stations + Multi-Monitors. TONS broken here. Worst of all is how there's no way to just FIX the dock to a single screen's bottom. Though if you pick Left or Right it'll stay there and not jump between screens.

* Per task focus / lists / menus. I like the WM to fuse the taskbar to each 'parent' level task window, NOT a screen edge. Similarly, the WM shouldn't group window switching per task (which makes work among a group of tasks super tedious).

PS: if there's a good way of fixing these on a corp-managed device please let me know. I've failed to find some obvious search result with ~15 years of web search history of others having the same pain points. With any 'solutions' now obsolete as internal component names / control schema completely renamed / redesigned over time, while seemingly not fixing any of the pain points.

Re: Microsoft extends free Windows 10 security updates into 2026

#58

Post by coderjames »

KronisLV wrote: post #13

I have to say that after switching to Windows 11, I don't hate it as much as I thought I would. I'm still a bit upset that they took away vertical taskbars from us, but some things like multi-GPU support is better than in Windows 10: https://blog.kronis.dev/blog/what-is-ruining-dual-gpu-setups On the other hand, for whatever reason Windows 11 right now refuses to install updates (I think the logs complained about the…

> I'm still a bit upset that they took away vertical taskbars from us

After getting a new W11 laptop at work and discovering the removal of vertical taskbars (ridiculous on 16:9 monitors), that particular loss is specifically what keeps me from "upgrading" from W10. Windows Updates warns me that "certain features aren't available on Windows 11" without specifying which ones; finding that sane placement of my taskbar is one of them means I'm plenty willing to pay $30 for another year of security updates to get to keep W10.

Re: Microsoft extends free Windows 10 security updates into 2026

#59

Post by pipes »

Wistar wrote: post #39
corysama wrote: post #23

I'd be happy to upgrade to 11 if they would let me. I'm running 10 on a powerful, expensive PC that 11 won't accept.

Did you check your BIOS settings to see if you can turn on the TPM? Worked for me on several circa 2018 custom built machines. The builder, Puget Systems, shipped the machines with the TPM turned off. With the TPM turned on, Win 11 installed without undue drama.

This is good advice, I discovered two of my PCs had tpms just disabled at bios level. Though in the end I've got so annoyed with the advertising I've moved one of them to Linux and the other will ditch windows too, eventually.

Re: Microsoft extends free Windows 10 security updates into 2026

#60

Post by jakub_g »

I bought my parents a Dell laptop in 2019/2020. It has 7th gen i3 so just below the Windows 11 threshold. The machine is in perfect shape as it's used a few times per month max for watching YouTube or some online banking, or occasional LibreOffice usage.

I don't want to generate electronic waste, what would you recommend? Installing Linux Mint?

Note: I'm far from my parents so can't do IT support.

Edit: also occasional HP scanner/printer usage.

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