Microsoft ended free security updates for Windows 10 in October 2025. The machines still run — that is the problem. Nothing breaks, no warning light comes on, and it is very easy to conclude it was all a fuss about nothing.
Why an unpatched PC is a real risk
Every month Microsoft publishes the vulnerabilities it has fixed in supported versions. Attackers read those notes too. A vulnerability patched in Windows 11 and left open in Windows 10 is, from an attacker’s point of view, a published list of ways in. The risk does not stay flat; it compounds every month.
There is a compliance angle as well. Running unsupported operating systems will fail a Cyber Essentials assessment, and increasingly it will raise eyebrows with insurers and with anyone doing supplier due diligence on you.
Your four options
1. Upgrade the machine to Windows 11
Free, if the hardware qualifies. Windows 11 wants a reasonably modern processor and a TPM 2.0 security chip. Broadly, machines bought from about 2019 onwards will be fine; older ones often will not.
2. Pay for Extended Security Updates
Microsoft sells ESU as a stopgap. It buys time and nothing else, the price rises each year, and you are paying for a machine you will still have to replace. Sensible for a handful of devices tied to specific software; expensive as a strategy.
3. Replace the hardware
Usually the right answer for anything five years or older. Done properly, this is not a big-bang expense — we work with clients to spread replacement across a rolling programme, and old kit can be traded in or responsibly recycled with WEEE certificates rather than filling a cupboard.
4. Do nothing
The most popular option, and the only one with an unbounded downside.
Start with an audit, not a purchase order
Before you buy anything, you need to know what you actually have: how many machines, how old, which can take Windows 11, which are running software that will not move. Most organisations are surprised by the answer in both directions — some machines they assumed were doomed are fine, and some they assumed were fine are ten years old and living under a desk.
This is bread-and-butter work for our managed IT support team; it is part of the full system audit and five-year plan we build for every support client. If you just need the hardware, our IT procurement team can account-manage the whole thing.
Not sure what you are still running?
Our free audit tells you exactly how many machines you have, how old they are, and which can take Windows 11 — before you spend anything.
See how managed IT support works →
Or call us on 01761 347198. We are a local team — you will speak to a person, not a queue.