Windows 10 has reached its end: what it means and how to move to Windows 11

In October 2025, official support for the Windows 10 operating system came to an end. If you are still using it, your computer will keep working, but from a security standpoint the ground is slowly giving way beneath you. Let us look at what this means and what to do about it.

What “end of support” means

End of support does not mean that Windows 10 will stop working overnight. It means that Microsoft no longer releases security updates for ordinary Windows 10. Every newly discovered vulnerability therefore stays unpatched, and attackers know it. The longer you stay on such a system, the riskier it becomes, especially if you use it for email, online banking or company data.

There is one exception. Microsoft offers an Extended Security Updates (ESU) programme that prolongs security patches for Windows 10 (version 22H2) until October 2026 (for households the first year was even available for free after signing in with an account). It is, however, only a temporary bridge, not a permanent solution - and the bridge is ending: only a few months remain until 13 October 2026. Once ESU ends, the system is left without patches for good, so do not postpone the move to the autumn, when everyone rushes the repair shops at once. Why security patches should not be postponed in general is covered in our article on updates.

Windows 11 requirements

Windows 11 is available to Windows 10 owners, and the upgrade itself is free. However, it has stricter hardware requirements. The computer mainly needs:

• TPM 2.0 (a security chip that many newer computers have, often you just need to enable it),
• Secure Boot and UEFI,
• a supported 64-bit processor,
• at least 4 GB of memory and 64 GB of storage.

Whether your computer is supported can be verified. Sometimes all it takes is enabling TPM and Secure Boot in the settings, and suddenly the computer meets the requirements, even though at first glance it seemed otherwise.

How to find out whether your computer can handle Windows 11

1. Download Microsoft’s PC Health Check app and run the test - it tells you straight away whether the computer qualifies and what is missing.
2. If the test reports missing TPM or Secure Boot, try enabling them in the BIOS/UEFI first - many computers have them, just disabled.
3. Laptops from 2018 onwards stand a good chance; older machines struggle because of the supported-processor list.

What your options are

Depending on the state of your computer, there are three possible paths:

• The computer meets the requirements - we move to Windows 11 and your data and programs are preserved.
• The computer is older but usable - often a simple upgrade (adding memory or an SSD, for example) is enough, and it keeps serving you reliably.
• The computer is genuinely outdated - in that case it makes sense to consider a new one. We are happy to build or recommend a machine tailored to you.

Whichever you choose, step one should be a data backup - a system transition is exactly the moment when that insurance pays off.

Do not leave it to the last minute

Moving to a new system is nothing to be afraid of, but it is worth doing sensibly, with a data backup and the right setup. If you are not sure what state your computer is in or whether it can handle Windows 11, we will check it for you and handle the entire transition, including backup and data transfer, so that you do not lose anything.

This article is part of our Software and system overview.