Windows 10 Free Support Ends October 14, 2025
Canalys estimates that 240 million PCs could end up in the scrap heap after October 2025, when Microsoft ends free support for Windows 10. Microsoft will provide paid support until October 2028, but hardware upgrades are likely will cost less.
Many computers with Windows 10 do not meet the system requirements of Windows 11, which means they cannot upgrade to this version of the OS.
An analytics firm estimates that up to 240 million PCs will be thrown away due to the need to purchase new hardware to meet Windows 11 requirements, even if those PCs are otherwise working perfectly.
Canalys estimates that almost two years before the official end of Microsoft support for Windows 10 — October 14, 2025 — About a fifth of devices will become electronic waste due to incompatibility with Windows 11. This corresponds to 240 million computers. Canalys figuratively emphasized:
If these were all stacked laptops, stacked on top of each other, they would form a stack 600 km above the Moon.