Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Microsoft extends free Windows 10 security updates into 2026

arstechnica.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 156 posts

Re: Microsoft extends free Windows 10 security updates into 2026

#21

Post by cjbgkagh »

octo888 wrote: post #15
gpm wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Windows 10 was marketed with the promise of being the "last version of windows" by microsoft employees. Personally I think they should be held to that promise, at least in so far as supporting it as long as they still support any other version of windows. The upgrade to windows 11 is not free in so far as it doesn't support the hardware that people have.

> Windows 10 was marketed with the promise of being the "last version of windows" by microsoft employees It was just that - marketing! To get a load of people to migrate to it, right? "Do it guys, it's the last one you'll need to do, we promise" Trust Microsoft? Not even once

Microsoft made the announcement through very trusted Microsoft media experts which they have since burned. I remember their emphatic assurances at the time but didn’t believe them.

Re: Microsoft extends free Windows 10 security updates into 2026

#22

Post by meowkit »

gpm wrote: post #12
_mlbt wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Windows 10 was marketed with the promise of being the "last version of windows" by microsoft employees. Personally I think they should be held to that promise, at least in so far as supporting it as long as they still support any other version of windows. The upgrade to windows 11 is not free in so far as it doesn't support the hardware that people have.

It wasn’t marketed that way. It was a throwaway line that became a meme at Ignite back in 2015

It was meant to convey the change in delivery model for Windows updates.

Windows 10 and 11 are the same kernel from a CI/CD perspective, just run winver and see for yourself. The Win10 and Win11 paint jobs are not something the engineers have any power over.

Re: Microsoft extends free Windows 10 security updates into 2026

#24

Post by GeekyBear »

_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.

> 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?

Re: Microsoft extends free Windows 10 security updates into 2026

#25

Post by justin66 »

_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.

> they offered a free upgrade to Windows 11

I wish. I have a completely capable machine that won't accept the upgrade, due to some completely artificial requirements MSFT built in.

Re: Microsoft extends free Windows 10 security updates into 2026

#26

Post by gpm »

meowkit wrote: post #22
gpm wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Windows 10 was marketed with the promise of being the "last version of windows" by microsoft employees. Personally I think they should be held to that promise, at least in so far as supporting it as long as they still support any other version of windows. The upgrade to windows 11 is not free in so far as it doesn't support the hardware that people have.

It wasn’t marketed that way. It was a throwaway line that became a meme at Ignite back in 2015 It was meant to convey the change in delivery model for Windows updates. Windows 10 and 11 are the same kernel from a CI/CD perspective, just run winver and see for yourself. The Win10 and Win11 paint jobs are not something the engineers have any power over.

A Microsoft employee tasked with public relations declaring it so at a Microsoft event in front of the press is Microsoft marketing it that way.

Re: Microsoft extends free Windows 10 security updates into 2026

#27

Post by NegativeK »

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.

If your org has a fiscal year that begins in the middle of the calendar year (July 1), there might not have been the budget to do the upgrade until months away.

Compounded with general upgrade procrastination...

Re: Microsoft extends free Windows 10 security updates into 2026

#28

Post by throwawaystress »

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 so glad you mentioned the vertical taskbars being taken away. There’s a feedback item on Microsoft’s forums that’s years old now and they still haven’t addressed it. It seems so weird that they took away this functionality that they’d had implemented for years, seemingly for no reason.
Post reply on HN