Security 2026

On 14 October 2025, Microsoft stopped supporting Windows 10. No more security updates, no more feature updates, no more technical support. The operating system still boots and still runs, which is exactly why this is easy to ignore. Nothing breaks on the day support ends. The risk builds quietly after it.

If your business has machines still on Windows 10, this is worth a few minutes of your attention. It is one of the more common situations we are seeing in 2026, and it is one of the easiest serious risks to leave unaddressed because everything appears to be working.

What "end of support" actually means

End of support does not mean the software is switched off. It means Microsoft no longer issues patches when new vulnerabilities are found. And vulnerabilities are found constantly. Every Patch Tuesday, supported versions of Windows receive fixes for newly discovered security flaws. Windows 10 no longer gets those fixes.

So the gap between a supported and an unsupported machine does not stay the same. It widens every month. A flaw discovered in November is patched on Windows 11 and left open on Windows 10. By the following year, an unsupported machine is carrying a growing stack of known, documented, publicly available weaknesses that will never be closed.

Attackers know this. Unsupported operating systems are a preferred target precisely because the holes are permanent.

Why this matters beyond the one machine

It is tempting to think of an old laptop as one person's problem. In a business network it rarely is. A single unpatched machine is a foothold. Once an attacker is on it, they can move toward the file server, the line-of-business application, the email accounts and the backups that the rest of the business depends on.

There is also a compliance and insurance dimension. Cyber insurance policies increasingly ask whether you are running supported software. Frameworks such as the ASD Essential Eight and SMB1001 treat patching and supported operating systems as a baseline control, not an optional one. Running unsupported Windows can quietly put you offside with a policy you are paying for, or with a standard a client expects you to meet.

An unsupported operating system is not a machine that has stopped working. It is a machine whose known weaknesses will never be fixed again.

Your options, in plain terms

There are really three paths, and the right one depends on the age of the hardware.

Upgrade the machine to Windows 11. If the hardware meets the requirements, this is usually the cleanest answer. Windows 11 needs a reasonably recent processor, TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot. Many machines bought in the last few years qualify. The upgrade keeps the device you already own and moves it back onto a supported, patched platform.

Replace the machine. Older hardware often does not meet the Windows 11 requirements, and forcing it is not worth the effort or the ongoing performance compromise. If a device is already a few years old, end of support is a sensible trigger to plan its replacement rather than spend money extending the life of something near the end of its useful run.

Buy time with Extended Security Updates. Microsoft offers paid Extended Security Updates for Windows 10, which provide critical security patches for a limited period after end of support. This is a bridge, not a destination. The price rises each year it continues, and it deliberately covers security only, not features or general support. It makes sense when you have a genuine reason a migration cannot happen yet, not as a way to avoid the decision.

What we would suggest doing first

Before choosing a path, you need to know what you actually have. The first step is an inventory: which machines are still on Windows 10, how old they are, and which of them can take Windows 11. That single list turns a vague worry into a clear, costed plan, with some machines upgraded in place, some scheduled for replacement, and any genuine exceptions handled deliberately.

For businesses on AgileMANAGED, this is part of the job. We monitor operating system versions across the fleet, flag machines approaching or past end of support, and plan upgrades and replacements before they become an exposure. The point of a managed service is that a date like 14 October 2025 does not arrive as a surprise.

If you are not sure where your business stands, that is the thing to fix first. We can run through your environment, tell you exactly which machines need attention, and lay out the most sensible way to deal with each one.