Sunsetting an operating system is something that a lot of people fear, while the companies seek to get everyone up to speed. Windows 10 has been around since 2015 and with Windows 11 now available to the general populace who hit the needed requirements, Windows 10 begins its very slow, four-year sunset.

Windows 10 is planned to go End of Life in 2025, allowing for the vast quantities of people that currently use it in business, government, and education to move to Windows 11 once it suits their needs. This happened with Windows XP to Vista and 7, with massive amounts of systems still using Windows XP way into Windows 7’s life cycle, especially ATMs and banks, leaving Microsoft in the weird position to have to put out a patch in 2017 to stop a widespread ransomware attack from hitting various PCs still relying on the OS.

Microsoft ended support for Windows 7 in 2020, while Windows 8 and 8.1 continue to enjoy some minor support sometime into 2023, two years before Windows 10 is supposed to be completely left to survive on its own.

Microsoft’s legacy support for products is unparalleled, but only when actually using the current software. A classic video demonstrating the complete support from Windows 1.0 to Windows 7 in 2011 and updated in 2017, shows that Microsoft just will let you keep using Reversi and SkiFree way into Windows 10.

Windows 11 launches October 5th, with the update rolling out gradually to the masses as and when Microsoft pushes it to your system. Of course, there are ways to force the update now if you so wish, as well as ways to see into the future of Windows 11 already with the Insider’s Program.

Be sure to check out our Windows 11 hub, which includes guides for removing new features like the embedded Microsoft Teams icon, as well as how to activate your TPM to get onto the new OS.

About the Author

Joel Loynds

Joel is a a lover of janky games, Magic the Gathering, and going down rabbit holes. For PC Guide he has written about peripherals, the Steam Deck, retro games, news and more.