In just 10 months Windows 10 will finally reach its end-of-life on October 14th, 2025, after 10 years of service. As a result, we’ve seen a significant increase in Windows 11 adoption. However, to date, 59.79% of Windows clients are still running Windows 10 and the clock is ticking. A lot of businesses will need to take steps in the coming months to either extend support or upgrade their client devices and servers. It is time to get started on planning and executing your migration or upgrade.
Windows 10 Lifecycle
Windows 10 uses Microsoft’s Modern lifecycle, which really just means that Windows 10 is considered to be a continuous services/supported product. The actual dates of when Windows 10 versions and editions are going end of life are not dynamic, though. These remain fixed at dates that Microsoft determines. The final end-of-life date for Windows 10 on the 14th of October, 2025 is now rapidly approaching.
Based on our own internal data, Windows 11 has gained significant ground in the last year and a half, mostly at the expense of Windows 10’s share as organizations prepare for the end-of-life. Since September 2024, Windows 10’s presence in businesses has further decreased from 67.1% to 59.79% in January of 2025. Windows 11 on the other hand has risen to from 23.1% to 30.48%, proportional to the decrease Windows 10 has seen (roughly 7.3%).
Windows 10’s market share within businesses dropping at the same rate that Windows 11 is rising continuous the trend we saw in September 2024. At the same time, all older, end-of-life operating systems continue to decline slowly.
Additional interesting insights from our analysis shows than only 3.55% of Windows 10 devices are running a Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) or Long-Term Servicing Branch (LTSB) versions.
The rapid increase in Windows 11 adoption is not completely surprising. Windows 11 is now the default Windows version for any newly purchased device, meaning that standard lifecycle practices within organizations will cause a migration. On top of that, Microsoft continued to push its latest operating system onto supported devices which has caused additional adoption growth.
Lastly, Windows 11 is now over 3 years old. The operating system itself has had time to mature, making skeptical IT departments feel more at ease and allowing upgrades since all of the quirks and early issues with Windows 11 have been ironed out.
Risks of Running Unsupported Windows Versions
Running unsupported Windows versions comes with several significant risks. The most severe impact is that these versions do no longer receive security updates. Without regular security updates, these versions become prime targets for cyberattacks, leaving sensitive data and critical systems vulnerable. Additionally, using outdated software can lead to non-compliance with industry regulations and standards, potentially resulting in hefty fines and legal ramifications.
While it is possible to extend support for Windows 10 via an LTSC or LTSB, this comes with extra costs and doesn’t stop the fact that outdated systems are also often not compatible with new technologies and applications or the fact that older systems simply become less efficient and more costly to maintain over time.
Recommendations for Organizations
To mitigate these risks, organizations should take several important steps.
First, they should conduct a thorough inventory of all IT assets to identify devices running unsupported Windows versions. Due to the sheer number of versions and editions of Windows 10 this can become very complex. There is the Home & Pro edition, Enterprise, Education, and IoT Enterprise editions. Additionally, some versions are available as LTSB (Long Term Servicing Branch) or LTSC (Long Term Servicing Channel) editions as it is now called, which also have their own specific dates. That’s why we provide our Windows 10 EOL report. This report looks at the specific Windows version and edition and shows how much longer it will be supported.
Planning and executing an upgrade strategy to transition these devices to the latest supported versions is crucial, with priority given to those at the highest risk. For organizations requiring longer support cycles, consider Windows 10 Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) or Long-Term Servicing Branch (LTSB) versions can provide extended support and greater stability.
Run the Windows 10 End of Life Audit
The Windows 10 EOL audit will help you with identifying which machines need to be updated. It also shows you how long your other machines still have before they go end of life. It gives you a complete list of all Windows 10 devices, their EOL date, and how many days there are remaining until end of support.
Windows Server EOL
Recently, Microsoft has also started releasing more and more versions for Windows servers, bringing it in line with their regular Windows 10 releases. While dedicated server releases are still supported for a long time, should you be running one of these newer versions, it is important to keep an eye on when it might stop receiving updates. Head over to our Windows Server EOL blog post to find out more and a report for a Windows Server EOL overview.
Are you ready for Windows 11?
Are you ready to say goodbye to Windows 10 entirely? We have made a special Windows 11 blog and report to help you audit your network to do a Windows 11 readiness check of systems you are interested in upgrading. The audit will aid you in discovering which devices meet the Windows 11 requirements.
If you want more details on how to approach a large scale infrastructure upgrade like the Windows 11 migration, make sure to check out our whitepaper, as it specifically goes into detail on Windows 10 as a use case and provides a step-by-step migration guide.
Ready to upgrade your Windows infrastructure?
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