It has been announced that Microsoft will officially cease support for Windows 10 on October 14th 2025. What should you do to keep your system secure and operating?
Many Windows users are faced with the difficult and daunting task of how and why to upgrade their Windows version from 10 to 11. The reactions can be two-fold: Stay with what you know (its worked so far so why change?) and Get the latest version for all the new features and ongoing security patches.
So what SHOULD you do?
The general advise is to upgrade if you have the required hardware to do so. This means you will have more recent security advancements built-in to your operating system and even if you don't interact with the new features, they will work quietly under the hood doing their job to make sure your system is safe.
Must you upgrade though?
Not immediately. Microsoft themselves have announced that they can continue support for Windows 10 for a maximum of 3 years, for a price. This is a handy option for a number of reasons:
What if I have an older system that can't meet minimum requirements, but want to upgrade anyway?
There are options available to bypass the specific hardware requirements of TPM 2.0 and other requirements - but doing so could put you at risk. These requirements are there for a reason, which is for the operating system to provide security features preventing common exploits that people may unintentionally fall for.
Overall if you or your business are a Windows users, to continue to operate you will be forced to move up to Windows 11 eventually, it just comes down personal preference to get the latest and greatest, be cautious and wait a while, or move forward and risk zero-day exploits and future security problems developed in the future which will never be repaired.