Support for Windows 10 will end in October 2025 | Hacker News Reader

Support for Windows 10 will end in October 2025

microsoft.com

51 pointscoucoualpha67 comments

So much for the "last version of Windows we'll do" then.

Seems my support for Microsoft might end up for good at October 2025. Might replace my aging 1080 Ti with an AMD card and start gaming on Linux. Seems the time has come to start evaluating.

4090 works fine on Linux.

Sure but, proprietary blob and all. Who knows what else is there. Going to Linux but still using a super-privileged driver that can extract almost anything out of my system and send it outside does not sound productive to me.

Not that there's any guarantee there isn't something similar in the AMD drivers, open-source or not. But I'd like to think the community would notice at one point if that was true.

I think that all depends on if someone finds 500ms of extra latency they can't explain.

Do it! Every day Linux is better and better than before, where as windows is... not so good.

Sure there are edge cases like having to use Libre Office instead of Word, but just think of that $100/y saving you'll be having by switching! & Possibly even get a more responsive system!

I use word and excel via Playonlinux, a Wine front end.

Wondering if Excel VBA Macro works with this ?

been playing on a 3070 quite happily on linux for the last year or so, on a dual boot win11/fedora box... but after i installed fedora i never booted into win11 again!

Just forked out for a 4070 ti super so i toy with some AI stuff... when it arrives I'm doing a clean fresh build. Fedora only. no windows at home anymore.

While I would loved to have bought an AMD GPU, the power suck on those high end cards is an order of magnitude more than the Nvidia

> While I would loved to have bought an AMD GPU, the power suck on those high end cards is an order of magnitude more than the Nvidia

Any source for this? I highly doubt a high end AMD GPU will draw 2-3kW of power.

I wish i could find the nice charts I found when i was looking. but here:

>Club386 specifically gave the example of the RX 7700 XT compared to the RTX 4070. The former is rated at 245W of power consumption versus the latter's 200W TGP. The RX 7700 XT also reportedly performs worse, targeting the RTX 4060 Ti.

>https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-says-most-gamers-dont-...

Though looking at this, if you undervolt the AMD stuff it does a lot better

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/amd-rx-7800-xt-under...

That's 245W vs 200W, 45W of difference, not even close to an order of magnitude more power draw...

> start gaming on Linux

I recently did this because Windows 11 was becoming increasingly cluttered with crapware and AI. I have an NVIDIA and chose Pop!_OS.

I have a pretty large collection (https://steamosaic.com/#skhaz) and all the games I've tested work, even the recent releases.

The only issue that sometimes occurs is some games defaulting to the lowest possible resolution instead of 4K, which is my desktop resolution. And Red Dead Redemption 2 had a crash on a mission that was resolved when I switched to the experimental version of Proton.

Occasionally, I play StarCraft 1 and 2, and Diablo 2, and Lutris works perfectly for that.

Besides, I personally find Pop!_OS to be a great distro.

I wonder if this could be classified as an environmental crime? Microsoft are forcing to e-waste a considerable percentage of the world's computing devices, and forcing new devices to be built and consumed.

And for no reason other than to force people onto Windows 11.

Corporations MUST be held responsible for these actions. If not at the legal level then there must be divestment of Microsoft shares by investment groups.

Microsoft isn’t forcing anything to be e-waste. They’re dropping support for what will be a 10 year old OS. You’re not forced onto Windows 11.

You just won’t get support or security patches. While people should upgrade, industries will still keep w10 around for a long time, just like they do with XP, 98, NT4, etc.

You are saying "10 year old OS" like it's a bad thing.

As of 2025 we are no longer supporting our oil rig. Woops it caused a huge spill, that's not our waste

It's not a 10 year old OS unless you believe Windows 11 is a fundamentally different kernel and Win32 API version with major backwards incompatibility - which we know isn't the case.

Ostensibly this was the same deal they made with Windows XP: "We're not forcing anyone to move to Vista, we're just dropping support for XP. You don't have to upgrade if you don't want to - but of course you do want, who doesn't want to have the latest and greatest, right?"

Turned out, a lot of people accepted that deal and stayed on XP. So many that MS got increasingly upset and put up pressure by adding nag screens, etc.

I'm completely sure, should enough people here actually try and stay in Win10, they will do the same. Especially since the main motivation for Win11 seems to be additional capabilities for DRM/locking down the system, so MS has a specific motivation to get as many people as possible to switch.

> Especially since the main motivation for Win11 seems to be additional capabilities for DRM/locking down the system

That, and more opportunities to insert adverts and related stalking for personal data to sell, which you agree to in the EULA.

Seems like a way for them to turn everything into a console with all the complete control that big brother prefers.

If an enterprise computer, they'll have a dashboard for corporate IT, and if retail that dashboard will be for advertisers and 3 letter agencies.

Many people can't upgrade.

Running an unsupported and insecure OS on the internet is untenable.

Windows 10 may be a 10 year old OS but Windows 11 has only been around for 2.5 years.

Last I checked, Windows was also an end-user product and not just for industries.

There will absolutely be computers that are less than 5 years old that will go to e-waste.

When they were pushing Win10 hard it was said to be the last Windows you would need to buy, not those exact words but what they wanted people to think. So now people who bought into that who have machines Win11 won't install on (no TPM or TPM Win11 is incompatible with being the usual reason), have been bait & switched into needing new hardware or switching away from Windows, a task that, as many will gladly tell you in other contexts, is only free if using your time has no opportunity cost, and might not work well anyway due to driver issues with hardware that has no decent published specs. Not directly forcing e-waste, but certainly making it very likely to happen.

If my main home machine didn't need some replacement anyway (there is something funky happening with USB connectivity, particularly for devices needing more than negligible power) it would definitely be moving to Linux rather than being replaced, even if I do upgrade it might anyway, but I am not the norm and I don't have time to help others make the same change and support them afterwards. To suggest that MS is OK to have performed this long-term bait & switch because other options exist is disingenuous at best.

> 10 year old OS

Isn't an OS only as old as its last update? Like an online map which gets updated, the map is not considered "old" if kept updated.

Huh?

This statement does not make any sense.

It makes plenty of sense,

Tell Microsoft: Don’t leave millions of computers behind (https://pirg.org/take-action/tell-microsoft-dont-leave-milli...)

20,000 call on Microsoft to save 400 million PCs (https://pirg.org/media-center/20000-call-on-microsoft-to-sav...)

RELEASE: Microsoft extends life of Windows 10 for $1 (https://pirg.org/media-center/release-microsoft-extends-life...)

You have option to pay for extended support.

It is not like after this date all your systems are shut down forever.

Ooh, they're offering extended support to consumers now - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/faq/windows

That's exciting.

Yes! My desktop PC is almost 10 years old at this point and it works perfectly, I've upgraded the CPU to an i7-4790K (the best of that generation) and added some RAM (32G total) which makes it very good for most of my work and even for occasional gaming. Thankfully I don't use windows that much, but I know I can't upgrade to windows 11, so according to Microsoft I would just have to throw it away in a year or two, which is completely ridiculous.

We have the same desktops!

I still happily develop on an i7-950 with 24GB of RAM from 13 years ago. I just haven't been able to justify the minimal performance improvements from upgrading vs all the other things my family needs.

Curious, thats quite high RAM, hows the performance? Do you experience lag?

Nope, that machine has a 512GB SSD and runs just as fast as modern corporate dev spec laptops I've used with the same core count. That being said, my static analyzer would definitely benefit from a more modern CPU!

It’s probably possible to get it to work by patching the installer

I will just force my older computers onto a different OS. My wife and kids will just have to learn Linux.

Ironically this could cause the year of Linux!

Apple has already been doing this since forever.

Apple actually aren't bad at supporting older devices.

How? They arbitrarily blocked new versions of macOS from being installed on older macs (even if they are perfectly capable of running it after you install it with a workaround).

Compared to MS they basically don't care about backwards compatibility at all. For instance, good luck running most moderately old games (e.g. even from the 2010s) even on Intel macs after they stopped working because they were using any 32bit libraries. Or you can not update (even if Apple lets you) but good luck running any recent software then.

I bet you never owned an Android device. /s

I still remember when they used to say "we called it Windows 10 because it will be the last version of Windows"...

Apple did the same with Mac OS X, they stuck with it for 16 releases. Then Big Sur came out as MacOS 11.

But macOS is a free update and compatibility within X was just as likely to break. So other than marketing nothing changed.

AFAIK they never said anything about OS X being “the last version of MacOS”. So no, they did not do anything like that.

I do remember Jobs talking about it being the foundation for the next 20 years, or something like that, but without mentioning any version number.

Can you link something official saying that? Like documentation or CEO saying that.

> Right now we’re releasing Windows 10, and because Windows 10 is the last version of Windows ...

[0]: https://www.forbes.com/sites/antonyleather/2015/05/08/window...

https://www.theverge.com/2015/5/7/8568473/windows-10-last-ve...

Quoted from Jerry Nixon.

That was just an employee towing the party line at a talk.

Exactly. The party line being that Win10 will be the last version of Windows.

So it was the party line, then?

Of all Windows versions Win10 has 69% market share, even gained 3% this year https://gs.statcounter.com/os-version-market-share/windows/d...

Let's see how it goes

Relevant,

> Microsoft is ending support for Windows 10 on October 14th, 2025, and you’ll need to pay yearly if you want to continue using the operating system securely. Microsoft will offer Extended Security Updates (ESU) for Windows 10 users, with pricing starting at $61 for the first year.

> The details and pricing structure outlined in this post apply to commercial organizations only. Details will be shared at a later date for consumers on our consumer end of support page. Educational organizations can find tailored information about Windows 10 end of support in the Microsoft Education Blog.

[0]: https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/3/24120093/microsoft-windows...

[1]: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-it-pro-blog/w...

> you’ll need to pay yearly if you want to continue using the operating system securely.

This sounds like paying for the bird in the bush. Only some days ago they said they still don't know how hackers accessed their systems.

Give me the same taskbar as in Windows 10 and I'll switch to 11.

Otherwise I might just purge Windows and go 100% Linux.

All the Windows games are crap anyway that are coming out in the last decade.

What was the last good Windows only game I enjoyed?

Battlefield 2042, but it sucked and still does as a game. BG3 works well emulated. CP2077 not sure. Jagged alliance 3 should have no issues. (Why does my phone annoy me with always replacing have with habe?)

As usual, LTSC is the answer.

When I'm forced to use win, I use literally nothing else.

I found it a bit of a pain to upgrade sometimes but boy it's stable!

Yes LTSC is the way!

Supported until 2027 or 2032 with the IoT version. I use the IoT LTSC as a daily driver for everything and it’s perfect

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/rel...

We started switching to macOS ARM this year (using the same Office365 and Intune for MDM) and yeah, there were a few hiccups here and there, but in general happy to be off Windows 11 (in time for our W10 devices to ease into EOL) and don't think we could be happier any other way.

In the budget end the new MacBook Airs are about the same price as the low end Dell laptops we used to buy, and on the higher end the MacBook is competitive price for price but in all cases the quality is better per dollar.

Be careful - if you want 3 screens you have to go with MBP M3 Pro as a minimum.

Three screens - one internal, two external - is possible on Macbook Air M through DisplayPort adapters.

While Apple say it's not officially supported it does work.

My work setup is 2x 24" + laptop on the side.

macOS ARM is not a solution for getting more than 10 years out of a computer. 9-10 is about the max lifecycle of a Mac, including the trailing security updates following 6-7 years of support.

By then Asahi Linux should cover everything you need.

Assuming the SSD is still functional, yes, but otherwise it's probably functionally E-waste at that point unless BGA rework becomes accessible and commonplace. Even then, Asahi Linux is a niche solution to a mass-market problem. Surfdudes and winemoms who aren't also tech people aren't going to want to give up their entire app ecosystem and switch to Linux just to continue using their computer. They'll want the computer to simply keep computering, and will end up replacing it.

The only Windows box I have is an AMD-based gaming rig and last time I checked the hardware isn't Windows 11 compatible. Time to check out how the gaming experience on Linux is these days.

It's good enough I haven't even started my gaming rig for a few years now... Not painless, but my biggest problems were the System Shock remake that couldn't start a game (an update automagically fixed it) and terrible performances under Lutris with Planet Crafter (but somehow running it within Steam solve the problem). I also do not play the latest games though.

Nearly every game will just work, unless you play a Competitive Game with a kernel anti-cheat. (Looking at you valorant). Https://protondb.com search for the game(s) you play, and hey presto it's fine.

Obviously it's primarily targeted at steam games, Lutris will sort you out with any other windows game (a game manager like steam but for _nearly every_ game)

Microsoft will provide Extended Security Updates (ESU) for Windows 10, start at $61 for first year, $122 for second year and $244 for third year.

"only applies to commercial organizations. An announcement for individual consumer pricing will be made at a later date." - https://redmondmag.com/Articles/2024/04/04/Microsoft-Reveals...

I'm guessing the individual pricing might be cheaper.

The only reason I am still on Windows is Adobe Lightroom. Come on Adobe, time to support Linux!

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