A year ago, on October 14, 2025, Windows 10 lost mainstream support. For many people nothing changed, and not out of neglect: Microsoft offered home users a year of Extended Security Updates (ESU), free in Europe for anyone signing in with a Microsoft account. That year of grace ends on October 13, 2026. It’s a little over five weeks away, which makes this the right moment to decide calmly rather than find out after the fact.
What actually happens in mid-October
The computer doesn’t lock up and your files stay put. The operating system simply stops receiving fixes for vulnerabilities. Every flaw discovered after that date stays open forever, and unpatched systems are exactly where attackers focus their effort: the work of finding an exploit pays off more when you know it will never be closed.
Some programs, such as browsers and antivirus tools, will keep getting updates for a while. But they protect what runs on top of the system, not the system itself.
The real options
- Move to Windows 11, if the PC is compatible. The upgrade is free. The “PC Health Check” app tells you in seconds whether your machine meets the requirements; in many cases you only need to enable the TPM 2.0 chip or Secure Boot in the UEFI settings, often switched off from the factory.
- Force Windows 11 onto unsupported hardware. There are ways around the requirements and they work, but Microsoft doesn’t guarantee updates on such installs. It’s a path for people who know what they’re doing, not something to recommend to your parents.
- Switch to Linux. Distributions like Linux Mint or Ubuntu run well even on PCs eight or ten years old. Browsers, email, office suites, and streaming work without surprises; it’s worth checking beforehand for specialized professional software, less common printers, and games with anti-cheat systems.
- ChromeOS Flex. For a computer used almost entirely through the browser, it turns an old laptop into something very close to a Chromebook, free and with automatic updates.
- Get a new computer. If that’s the choice, a refurbished PC with Windows 11 often costs less than you’d expect and avoids adding one more piece of e-waste.
Before you touch anything
- Make a full backup to an external drive that you then disconnect. Even the smoothest upgrade can go wrong.
- List the programs you actually use, including the ones you open once a year for taxes or for the printer.
- Recover passwords and license keys for paid software: you’ll need them after a reinstall, and finding them later is always harder.
- Check drivers for peripherals you don’t want to replace, especially older scanners and printers.
Tip: if you decide to try Linux, don’t wipe Windows right away. Boot the distribution from a USB stick in “live” mode and use it for a few days: if everything you need works, the real install becomes a formality.
What to expect from here
The end of Windows 10 is also a case study in the tension between security and sustainability. Millions of perfectly working computers don’t meet Windows 11’s requirements, and each one is a choice between keeping it with growing risk, giving it a second life with another system, or replacing it. There’s no single right answer for everyone, but there is a wrong one: not choosing, and carrying on as if nothing happened.