Microsoft stopped free Windows 10 upgrades to force users to upgrade to Windows 11

Microsoft has announced the final end of technical support for Windows 10. From now on, the operating system will no longer receive even security patches, let alone functional updates.

This applies exclusively to free technical support. Anyone can continue to receive necessary updates for Windows 10, but for a separate fees. Microsoft offers this option to both corporate and consumer customers, but it's limited to a few years, and you'll have to pay separately for each license. Furthermore, the price for business users won't just increase, but literally double each year.

At the time of publication, Microsoft had almost no alternatives to Windows 10. The company offers only one current operating system, which still receives free updates: Windows 11, known primarily for its relentless stream of updates that break both the operating system itself and even computer hardware.

To reduce the incentives and temptations for users who actively use software and services from the Microsoft ecosystem to stay on Windows 10, the software giant is preparing to deal them another blow. In 2026, it will stop releasing updates to apps from the Microsoft 365 cloud service (Office, OneDrive, Outlook, Teams, and SharePoint) for Windows 10 users. They will continue to work on this operating system for now, but Microsoft will no longer guarantee their stability and security.

Windows 11 was released in October 2021, while Windows 10 was released in July 2015. In total, the system received updates for a little over 10 years, which is not a record for Microsoft – for example, it updated Windows XP for almost 13 years.

Microsoft announced the end of support for Windows 10 as early as summer 2021, almost four and a half years before the big day and even before the announcement of Windows 11, so it's not as if the world wasn't warned. However, it's important to emphasize that since spring 2023, the system has received only security updates—few functional updates have been released since then, with a few very rare exceptions.

The latest official build of Windows 10 is 22H2. It was released in September 2022.

In its official end-of-support announcement, Windows 10 offers three options for all users. The first is a simple upgrade to Windows 11, but only if the PC supports it. It's widely known for its high hardware requirements, and installing it on what it considers outdated hardware can be challenging.

The second option is to purchase a new PC that is fully compatible with Microsoft's new OS. This could be a challenge for businesses, as they'd have to replace not just one computer, but an entire fleet. However, it appears that companies in some countries are choosing this approach—as News reported, computer sales worldwide, and particularly in Japan, showed significant growth in the third quarter of 2025 (July 1–September 30).

The third option proposed by Microsoft is to switch to paid security updates. However, firstly, Microsoft doesn't plan to release them forever, and secondly, third-party software developers, including browser developers, will sooner or later stop supporting Windows 10, as they did with all previous consumer versions of the OS.

While extended paid support remains an option, it’s only a temporary solution that will grow increasingly expensive over time. For most users and organizations, the message is clear: the company is now firmly pushing users toward Windows 11 or newer hardware that meets its stricter system requirements.