Windows 10 Support Ends on October 14, 2025

Posted3 months agoActive3 months ago

MaximilianEmel

50 points

45 comments

support.microsoft.comTechstory

calmmixed

Debate

60/100

Windows 10Windows 11End of SupportOperating System Upgrade

Key topics

Windows 10

Windows 11

End of Support

Operating System Upgrade

Microsoft's Windows 10 support is ending on October 14, 2025, prompting discussions on upgrade paths, security concerns, and potential workarounds for unsupported hardware.

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01Story posted
Oct 14, 2025 at 3:46 AM EDT
3 months ago
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Oct 14, 2025 at 4:40 AM EDT
54m after posting
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Oct 15, 2025 at 3:30 PM EDT
3 months ago
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Discussion (45 comments)

Showing 45 comments

hu3

3 months ago

3 replies

Initial release date: July 29, 2015

That's over 10 years of support. Not bad

cwillu

3 months ago

3 replies

“Right now we’re releasing Windows 10, and because Windows 10 is the last version of Windows, we’re all still working on Windows 10.” --Microsoft

beardyw

3 months ago

1 reply

I believed that. My conversion Windows 7 to 10 failed. I went to Ubuntu without any problems. I had a lucky escape.

1718627440

3 months ago

1 reply

Just yesterday I installed both Windows 10 and Windows 7 (and Windows XP). Windows7 is so much more consistent, faster. (It's still from Microsoft, so it also sucks.)

tracker1

3 months ago

I think the two versions of Windows I remember most fondly are Windows 2000 *not ME) and Windows 7. I used a replacement shell for explorer on Win2k for several years until I finally switched to XP+SP3...

I think Win2K was the last consistent UI version of Windows... everything felt like it belonged together in terms of look and feel. With Win7, I liked the enhancements to the new taskbar, but other than that didn't care for much. Since then it's been an increasingly half baked mess.

2III7

3 months ago

1 reply

I also believed them. Never again. Also Windows 11 is okay.

rocketvole

3 months ago

1 reply

... but it seems to be worse than windows 10 in terms of performance while adding nothing substantially different

munchlax

3 months ago

Oh but it is quite different.

Even notepad is completely fucked up.

mmc and cmd still virtually unchanged since 1999

munchlax

3 months ago

We just ship everyone the latest beta and let the users do the testing.

That's why we made sure you can't disable telemetry unless you pay up for an enterprise-level eula.

Good luck submitting error and telemetry reports whenever an update bricks your motherboard.

FTFY

zigzag312

3 months ago

1 reply

That's just the best case scenario. Few migrated to it in 2015. Windows 10 was sold for years.

Windows 11 initial release date: October 5, 2021.

That's 4 years of support after successor was released.

tracker1

3 months ago

Dunno.. Windows 8.0 and 8.1 were ass... Windows 10 was slightly less ass.

hulitu

3 months ago

> That's over 10 years of support. Not bad

This reminds of "Windows is a single platform" rant from some 20 years ago.

netdevphoenix

3 months ago

2 replies

Any bets on Windows extending the deadline or providing free security updates for a while as soon as the first sec vulnerability news hits a significant number of customers?

kungito

3 months ago

1 reply

But they litterally are doing this. And also EU made them make it free for EU citizens so its free in EU and 30$ in the rest of the world afaik. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/extended-security-up...

sunaookami

3 months ago

1 reply

Yes, it's free for one year if you sign into an MS account.

micronn

3 months ago

2 replies

Which makes it not free.

kungito

3 months ago

2 replies

You have to log into w11 anyways as a must, no avoiding it. Sure you wouldnt call this free from purist perspective but from consumer perspective it is

netdevphoenix

3 months ago

1 reply

I thought you could install w11 offline

TowerTall

3 months ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45497384

1718627440

3 months ago

It's not free, it's gratis.

sunaookami

3 months ago

1 reply

You know exactly what I mean.

estimator7292

3 months ago

Yes, and you're wrong. You're still paying for it.

Akronymus

3 months ago

99% likely, though I expect it to be for europeans only. At least IMO.

akimbostrawman

3 months ago

1 reply

https://endof10.org/

Woodi

3 months ago

1 reply

I like Linux & Co and do not like Windows accounts etc but "MS wants you buy new computer" is anti slogan. We need new hardware ASAP!

' Problem is: hardware we want probably do not exists yet :) RowHammer ? Are new Intel cpu arch resistant to speculations or how better it is then HT? "Android GPU speculations" from todays news ?

That MS probably wants to bake two tings at once - some security and a lot of slavery - is totally different problem.

akimbostrawman

3 months ago

It's far more likely a PC gets physically stolen than rowhammer, spectre or any other advanced hardware specific exploit being used.

Linux is already much more secure than Windows even on insecure hardware by not encouraging downloading proprietary unverified executables from google which on top is infested with malwaretising or even comes preinstalled with them. That is how 99% of malware actually does damage.

wvbdmp

3 months ago

5 replies

I keep telling people they’re not going to get owned just by booting a Windows 10 machine after october 14. Most people visit Google, Amazon, Youtube, Pinterest and Netflix and not much else. If you run sketchy stuff and click sketchy links, you could get owned under support, too. And if the NSA wants to spy on you specifically, Windows 11 isn’t going to stop them. The most pressing (non-compliance) reason to upgrade from Windows 10 is always just going to be that newer software versions may stop working. Perhaps most importantly games and Microsoft’s own stuff.

rasz

3 months ago

2 replies

You are losing against Microsoft marketing. In Europe one of the biggest electronic chains MediaMarkt (think bestbuy in its heyday) is currently running commercials targeting older audience and clearly co-financed by Microsoft. Its all about dangers of doing basic ecommerce on "old unsupported computers" and how you are going to have all of your data and identity stolen if you dont upgrade _right now_ to a new computer with Win11.

The_President

3 months ago

1 reply

Funny how I just cleaned out a Windows 11 computer infested with malware that was used by a professional and infiltrated with an unknown vector. We think it was compromised via an ad.

janwl

3 months ago

1 reply

A professional who didn’t use an ad blocker?

tracker1

3 months ago

1 reply

A friend of mine's wife works in marketing and literally needs to run without an Ad Blocker for work. When I setup PiHole for them, had to manually set the DNS on her work computer to not block ads.

The_President

3 months ago

Yeah in our case this person is a professional in another industry and uses her device as an office machine... Adblockers are just not a thing they think about.

hulitu

3 months ago

> In Europe one of the biggest electronic chains MediaMarkt (think bestbuy in its heyday) is currently running commercials targeting older audience and clearly co-financed by Microsoft

So is the ARD, desguised as "news".

sunaookami

3 months ago

You need an up2date browser with adblocker, that's the most important thing. I guess browsers will be supported for a few more years but after that you should definitely not use Windows 10 in fear of e.g. 0days served via ads and just use a Linux distribution instead (or better yet, do it now instead of buying new hardware just for Win11 or using crude hacks and unsupported workarounds).

mapotofu

3 months ago

There are tons of sketchy ads on FB, Google, YT, etc., these aren’t safe/vetted sites, they’re crawling with scams.

blibble

3 months ago

> Most people visit Google, Amazon, Youtube, Pinterest and Netflix and not much else

anything with google adsense is a malware vector

jezek2

3 months ago

All software is full of security bugs, supported or not. While supported SW fixes known security bugs it also introduces new ones. Therefore it doesn't matter much, it's all vulnerable.

Security patches are also increasingly misused by the vendors to push unwanted crap.

Other security approaches are needed: firewall, updated browser + adblocker, not clicking on everything, doing research before installing stuff, etc.

general1465

3 months ago

2 replies

I think that a lot of hardware which "does not support" Windows 11 actually does after BIOS/UEFI update or reconfiguration. I myself had 2 such examples from like 20 computers in the company.

- A board with AMD Ryzen needed to fTPM enabled

- A different board from Gigabyte I think had wonky Secure Boot support, but after BIOS update everything worked just alright and Windows 11 has installed itself without a problem.

alyandon

3 months ago

Same for my parents - one of their desktops that they were going to leave on Windows 10 needed to have tpm and secure boot turned on in bios and suddenly it was Windows 11 compliant.

deaf_coder

3 months ago

It might be a little sketchy for some, but you can patch the .iso to remove the TPM requirement and get Windows 11 to install on non-compliant computers. I forgot where to download the patch from, it was from some GitHub page I found on the internet. I have done it so on my ancient desktop with Intel i5-3750K without issues.

LocalH

3 months ago

massgrave my beloved

lordkrandel

3 months ago

Oh no! I will have to switch from Archlinux to NixOS now! ... no... wait...

SpecialistK

3 months ago

If your PC actually can't run Windows 11 (older than Nehalem/Bulldozer) then you should:

* fresh install 10 21H2 LTSC IoT using "methods" - this will keep receiving Windows patches until 2032 (although 3rd party software may end support sooner)

* move to a supported Linux distro (Debian 13 with XFCE would be a safe bet)

* buy a new computer because 15 years is pretty old for a PC

If your PC can run Windows 11, but Microsoft don't support it (1st-7th gen Intel or AMD FX-Zen 1) then use 11 24H2 LTSC IoT.

If your PC does support Windows 11 but you're finally sick of Microsoft's bullpoop... 11 24H2 LTSC IoT.

Basically use 21H2 LTSC for old machines, and 24H2 LTSC for new machines. I honestly believe MS makes this version available (and so easy to activate) just to keep HN-types happy. Far less crap, still get security updates, and you'll probably reinstall in a few years once software support gets in the way or a new Windows release adds features you want (but won't be pushed because LTSC.) It actually makes Windows acceptable to use and acts like versions before 10 (it's one branch which gets patched, not upgrades every 6 months)

Of course moving to a better platform (Linux or BSD) would be preferred, but sometimes we still need to use Windows...

theandrewbailey

3 months ago

I work at an ewaste recycling company. Just yesterday, I sold a desktop to someone expressly so that he would have supported hardware for Windows 11 in light of Windows 10 support ending.

Bender

3 months ago

Given Microsoft created this problem by requiring updated hardware for Windows 11 I suspect this may lead to the same issue that happened with Windows XP. There will be a myriad of ISO's floating around the web with Windows 10 and some slip-streamed updates from paid accounts and who knows what else embedded that people will be using both privately and in their companies to keep things running. This may be a boon for malware distributors and state actors.

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ID: 45577274Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 5:51:32 PM

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