This is a reworking of articles I did a few years ago about the end of support for Windows XP and 7, but I think what I said here still holds true for the end of Windows 10.
Many of you may have heard of Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’s five stages of grief. She named them as denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. She was talking about a catastrophic personal loss, but as the end of Microsoft support for Windows 10 nears in 2025, I’m hearing similar reactions.
1. Denial – Microsoft will change its mind. After ten years, Windows 10’s time has come and gone. The operating system just can’t keep up with some of the latest technology. The company is determined to shift towards being a devices and services business and supporting multiple operating systems is not part of that plan.
2. Anger – We’ve seen plenty of that in comments, e-mails and questions. Readers have called Microsoft, greedy, lazy, short-sighted, stupid and a lot thing that we can’t post on a family-friendly website. Keep in mind, the company did offer free upgrades from Windows 10 if your device can support TPM. But, of course, not everyone can.
3. Bargaining – Readers have asked if they run up-do-date security software, won’t that take care of the problem? What if they are very careful about where they go online or just use it for e-mail. Security providers have made it clear that without Microsoft offering the security support – they cannot guarantee the safety of Windows 10 systems.
4. Depression – According to experts, it’s not a good idea to attempt to cheer up the grieving person at this point. So I won’t try to tell you that you may be able to upgrade your current computer to Windows 11 or that you might enjoy a newer, faster computer. And I won’t even touch the fact that Windows 11 really is a pretty good operating system.
5. Acceptance – Once you’ve reached that stage, we can help you out. Many Windows 10 PCs are capable of running Windows 11. Or you could consider switching to the free Linux operating system.
Remember October 14, 2025 is the end date for support for Windows 10.
Nice obituary… may it rest in peace, but I doubt it.
Not a question, just a comment:
I transitioned from Win 7 to Win 10, I guess a couple years ago. I wanted to stay on Win 7, but I had a new computer that came with Win 10. My guru who helped with out of box set up told me this computer was “purpose-built” for Win 10, and running Win 7 on it (as a dual boot) wouldn’t work out all that well. I don’t know whether he was right or wrong on that point, but finally I just took his advice and went with Win 10.
I didn’t find it all that difficult to learn. After you’ve been through however many OS, you get to adapting pretty quickly. (I started with computers long before Win, but my first Win computer was 3.1 for Workgroups. Then came all the rest.)
So, as you mourn, if you are, don’t worry about the learning curve. The big downside to “Windows as a Service” is update issues. I have Pro, so I now have a little more control than the people on Home. But I’ve been through a lot of problems, with many incidents of needing to reinstall destroyed peripheral drivers, apps being deleted or reconfigured beyond recognition, and so on. If you haven’t been faithful about your backups, start now. The most recent update for me installed a new version of the scan and fax app. I lost all my accounts, settings, contacts, and my saved inbox docs. Although I had to reconstruct the configuration and lost my contacts, I was able to recover my inbox from my backup. Also, the crapware burden is nigh unto overwhelming. I have no idea what some of the apps being loaded are even supposed to do, no time to look up what all of them are, and some of them cannot be uninstalled.
So, ya’ll have fun out there!
my computer won’t run 11