Millions of people expected to continue using Windows 10 despite end of support, survey reveals
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A new survey has revealed that a good number of people plan to continue using Windows 10 even after Microsoft officially ends support this month. Support for Windows 10 will stop on October 14, 2025, which means the operating system will no longer receive important security updates or fixes.
This transition even expected to lead to millions of obsolete devices and £1.8bn of e-waste in the UK alone. Despite this, a large number of users still aren’t planning to upgrade to Windows 11 or switch to another system.
Which? survey reveals a quarter of respondents won’t upgrade
UK-based organization, Which?, currently estimates that around 21 million people in the UK are still using a laptop or desktop that runs Windows 10. They surveyed more than 2,000 adults, and according to the results, 26% of them said they plan to keep using it after support ends. This could leave them open to security threats, scams, and malware attacks once Microsoft stops releasing updates.
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Scale that 26% up to the 21 million people said to be affected, and it comes to around 5.4 million users choosing not to upgrade.
On the other hand, not everyone plans to stay on Windows 10 forever. The survey found that 39% of users plan to upgrade their current device to Windows 11, while 14% said they’ll buy a new computer that comes with Windows 11 pre-installed. A smaller group, around 6%, plans to switch to alternative systems like Linux, a free operating system that will continue to work well on older computers. Another 11% of people said they are still unsure about what they’ll do next.
It is important to keep in mind that upgrading to Windows 11 is important if you want to continue receiving security and stability updates. However, if you want to stick to Windows 10 a little longer, then you can extend the support for free for a year in a few clicks. But eventually, you will need to upgrade to Windows 11 for the latest features.
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