October 14, 2025
Windows 10 end of support
MicrosoftThe software giant behind Windows, Office, Azure, and Xbox — founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. ended free security updates for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025 — closing a decade-long OSOperating system — software that manages hardware and provides services to applications. generation still used on hundreds of millions of PCs.
What it was for
Windows 10 EOL forced enterprises and consumers toward Windows 11 or paid Extended Security Updates. For developers it marked the end of targeting IEInternet Explorer — Microsoft's browser that dominated the web in the 1990s and 2000s.-mode legacy and an aging kernelThe core of an operating system that manages hardware, memory, and processes — everything else depends on it. baseline — one of the largest forced migration events in desktop computing since Windows XP.
Companies
- Microsoft
Why it's here
Windows 10's EOL ended the longest-supported consumer Windows generation in years.
Why it mattered
Hundreds of millions of machines needed migration or paid security patches.
What it solved
MicrosoftThe software giant behind Windows, Office, Azure, and Xbox — founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. needed to sunset an OSOperating system — software that manages hardware and provides services to applications. generation to focus security engineering on Windows 11.
Media
- ImageWindows 10
Microsoft, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Related
- Microsoft Edge released with Windows 10July 29, 2015
- Internet Explorer 11 retiredJune 15, 2022