Oh what a fright! Windows 10 is coming to an end. Now users are supposed to switch to the current Windows 11, but at least for free... © Microsoft
Customers are caught off guard by Microsoft: Windows 10 is surprisingly discontinued. What PC owners need to pay attention to now.
Munich – Servus, mach's guat! Eight years after its launch in 2015, Microsoft is discontinuing the further development of Windows 10 surprisingly quickly. After the latest 22H2 update, the world's most popular PC operating system is no longer getting any new features. Here the most important questions are answered.
Windows 10 before the end: sales have been discontinued
What's next for Windows 10?
Microsoft stopped selling Windows 10 back in January of this year. If you buy a new Windows license or a new computer now, you will basically get the successor Windows 11. New features are no longer coming from now on. In addition, support for Windows 14 will end on October 2025, 10.
What does the end of support mean?
From the deadline in a good two and a half years, Microsoft will no longer correct errors in Windows 10, and will no longer close security gaps. If you don't want to become a target for hacker attacks on the Internet, you have to upgrade your PC to Windows 11 by then at the latest. Until then, security updates will only be available for computers with the latest version Windows 10 22H2 from October 2022.
Update calculator to Windows 11: How it works
Can I upgrade my computer to Windows 11?
This works especially well with newer PCs built from 2018 onwards. There are problems with older computers. This is because Microsoft has significantly increased the hardware requirements at the start of Windows 11 and also requires that the TPM security chip must be installed. The technology magazine c't now complains that Microsoft is effectively declaring all devices with technology from before 11 "electronic waste" with the forced update to Windows 2018. Because Windows 11 can no longer be installed even on technically fit PCs, the experts complain about an "upgrade scandal".
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How does Windows 11 get on my PC?
Ideally, the Windows update will automatically suggest the update. Then version 11 can be installed quite easily. A prior backup of data is recommended, and the process takes one to two hours. If Windows 11 is not offered automatically, Microsoft makes it possible to check whether a PC is suitable for Windows 11 on the Internet under bit.ly/win-11-check. The update itself can be downloaded from bit.ly/w11-assistent. After all, switching from Windows 10 to 11 is free.
Microsoft wants to get users to switch to Windows 11 the hard way
Which Windows do I have on my computer?
If you want to find out, press the Windows key and the letter "R" at the same time. In the window that then opens, "winver" (like Windows version, without quotes) is entered. If you have not yet reached Windows 10 22H2 (which is cryptically stated as "Build 19045"), you should update your computer via Windows Update.
Why the quick end?
Because the PC market is in crisis, Microsoft wants to get users to switch to Windows 11 the hard way. While Windows 10 has a PC market share of 68.8 percent worldwide, Windows 11 is bobbing around at 18.1 percent. Apart from a few innovations in operation and design cosmetics, there are hardly any reasons to upgrade to Windows 11 so far. And from a purely technical point of view, Windows 10 could very well continue to run on the previous computers. The c't experts speak of "pure arbitrariness".
