Windows 10 Won’t be Receiving Any More Big Updates

Windows 10
Credit: Microsoft

Windows 10

As of April 2023, most Windows users are still running Windows 10. There are good reasons to be a holdout, too, as it's become a beloved OS that has followed Microsoft's pattern of good/bad releases. It started with Windows 98 to Me, then XP to Vista, 7 to 8, and 10 to 11. However, at this point, Windows 10 is almost eight years old, which is astonishing given its performance and feature set. That is leading Microsoft to start pointing the old girl toward the great pasture in the sky. To that end, it has announced that the current version, 22H2, is the last version it will ever release.

News of Windows 10's semi-imminent demise comes from a client roadmap update to the Windows blog. The blog states that the current version of Windows 10, 22H2, will be the final one. If that's what you currently have, you can no longer expect any changes or new features until it goes bye-bye. That will occur on its End of Service date, Oct. 14, 2025. Until then, the company will continue to support it with monthly security updates. Given this situation, Microsoft "highly encourages" people to update to Windows 11 because Windows 10 is now locked into a death spiral. Microsoft had previously announced its termination date, so the news here is that there won't be any more feature updates for Windows 10.

Windows marketshare
As of February 2023, Windows 10 still holds the lion's share of Windows market share. Credit: Statcounter

The news might come as a surprise to Windows 10 owners, but it shouldn't. Microsoft has been trying to lure people away from its previous OS since Windows 11 launched in October 2021. Despite many PC people wanting the latest and greatest, they don't share that sentiment regarding their OS when it's fast, stable, and does what they need. Windows 11 seemed like a mild upgrade over 10, or even a downgrade in some peoples' minds due to its various UI changes. Don't even get us started on the Taskbar. As a testament to this, Windows 10 still resides on 68.75% of peoples' machines as of February 2023, according to Statcounter.

This is just the latest in a series of moves Microsoft has made to convince people to install Windows 11. Back in January, it stopped selling individual licenses, making Windows 11 the default OS for new PCs made by system integrators. For the DIY crowds, licenses are still available from third parties, but that's always been a bit of a minefield regarding their authenticity. At this point, it makes sense to throw in the towel and upgrade. After all, Windows 11 does have some great new features, like the Xbox Game Bar. Besides, if you're unhappy with the UI changes, affordable add-ons like Start11 and free utilities like ExlorerPatcher will make it look like Windows 10.