Windows 10 refuses to go gentle into that good night
- Reference: 1759407943
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/10/02/windows_10_statcounter/
- Source link:
The figures come from the [1]Statcounter tracking code, which is installed on more than 1.5 million sites. While not comprehensive, they represenrt the best indicator in the absence of official figures from Microsoft.
Despite Microsoft's relentless push to migrate users, Windows 10 remains remarkably resilient, however, the trend line does show movement. A year ago, Windows 10 held 62.75 percent market share while Windows 11 languished at 33.42 percent. This shift hasn't been nearly steep enough. After October 14, a number of users will no longer receive free security updates.
[2]
For those who remain on Windows 10, the end of support brings a bitter trade-off: no more monthly anxiety about what Microsoft might break — but also no assurance that vulnerabilities will be patched.
[3]
Microsoft claims to put "security above all else," yet will deliberately leaving millions of customers without security protections if the latest market share figures are correct. Petitions – in [4]Europe and the [5]US – urging the company to extend updates have been met with only [6]limited concessions for specific consumer segments.
[7]Hundreds of orgs urge Microsoft: don't kill off free Windows 10 updates
[8]Windows 11 25H2 is mostly 24H2 with bits bolted on or ripped out
[9]Healthcare lags in Windows 11 upgrades – and lives may depend on it
[10]Microsoft agrees to 11th hour Win 10 end of life concessions
Windows 10 devices won't suddenly stop working on October 14. However, the date will mark the end of updates, and only the most ardent Microsoft apologists would claim the OS is without vulnerabilities.
Hundreds of millions of users find themselves unable or unwilling to make the move to Windows 11. For enterprises still on Windows 10, the decision should already be made: pay for Extended Security Updates (ESUs). For consumers bombarded with full-screen Windows 11 advertisements, the path forward is far less clear.
The latest market share figures indicate that Microsoft's tactics to force a hardware refresh have fallen short of expectations. The company now risks businesses and users remembering the heavy-handed tactics when making IT decisions in the future. ®
Get our [11]Tech Resources
[1] https://gs.statcounter.com/windows-version-market-share/desktop/worldwide/#monthly-202408-202509
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aN6hmZ0qmgJKq2HaIufo2QAAAcM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aN6hmZ0qmgJKq2HaIufo2QAAAcM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/16/campaigners_urge_eu_to_mandate/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/01/hundreds_businesses_urge_microsoft_not_end_win10_support/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/26/not_in_eu_and_want/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/01/hundreds_businesses_urge_microsoft_not_end_win10_support/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/01/windows_11_25h2/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/30/windows_11_healthcare/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/26/not_in_eu_and_want/
[11] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: I wouldn't hold your breath...
Pretty sure Satya Nadella could personally show up at my company and spit on our CTO and we would still be paying for our Azure instances...
Re: I wouldn't hold your breath...
Indeed.
Businesses obviously have zero memory, otherwise they would have ditched Windows long ago.
Users don't care, they just want a computer that works. Now that more and more things are being done via smartphone, I honestly wonder where Borkzilla is going to keep its revenue flowing from.
Not that I care, though. This pile of DRM-infested shit deserves to die whatever manglement says about its precious, precious Excel pie charts.
Windows 10
Windows 10 PCs aren't going anywhere. Even in my home, we have perfectly good laptops that somehow aren't upgradeable to Windows 11 (we can force it probably with a hack).
It seems all so pointless.
Re: Windows 10
It is not only pointless, but completely artificial.
Re: Windows 10
Why the major changes? It's an operating system. You'd think 10 chances would have been enough to get it mostly right.
Yeah, I know. But when there's a new (major) Linux release, I pretty much just update my system nowadays...with Microsoft, I need to buy a new one???
"Do not go gentle into that good night,"
... "Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
The reference to Dylan Thomas' poignant [1]verse alone is worth the price of admission. ;)
[1] https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46569/do-not-go-gentle-into-that-good-night
The LAST Windows
Directly from Microsoft, Windows 10 was supposed to be "The Last Windows" you have to install, as it was supposed to be "Windows as a Service" after that.
Our org has moved to Linux for almost everything - with a pair of Win10 VMs for Visual Studio - that's it.
We are not feeding MICROS~1\BORG_AI any further.
EUS is available for free for a year for non business users
"With just days remaining until Microsoft discontinues free support"
The Reg appears to have chosen to ignore the fact, but Win 10 EUS updates are available to all* non-business users for another year. The only** caveat is you need to have a MS account to qualify.
* May not apply in some Regions - dunno - but Europe/UK are well served by this.
** But you may need to jump through some technical hoops if you run Win10 Home, as activating EUS requires an account with local admin rights, which could be a faff for non-techies running Win10 Home edition (No "Local Users & Groups" snap-in!)
Re: EUS is available for free for a year for non business users
Free, but you need to set up an account.
So the personal information you hand over in order to set up the account is worthless?
"Free" doesn't come with a "but".
Untested workarounds
As a personal user, here's what I'm hoping will work to keep my i5 DDR3 PC viable for a few more years:
1) Activate Windows ESU https://massgrave.dev/
2) Use Legacy Update https://github.com/LegacyUpdate/LegacyUpdate
I'd love to switch to Linux but it just doesn't have the all applications I like to use.
Re: Untested workarounds
It's not a case of Linux not "having" your applications, but a case of your applications not "having" Linux (support or workarounds)
Complain to your application vendors
Also out of curiosity: What applications? Many of us here may be able to suggest workarounds (e.g. Wine, Proton) or alternatives that you haven't tried
Re: Untested workarounds
- Digitally signing PDFs with a hardware token (USB)
- special software for an MD, compatible with Romania's SIUI.
Point me in the right direction and I can finally ditch Windows.
Re: Untested workarounds
Win 10 2021 ltsc iot. Accept no substitutes.
Every time I tried to apply for the extended service "feature" it said:
"Sorry this service is not available, please try later"
Just had another full screen Windoze 11 advert - on one of my customers' machines that doesn't have the required TPM module (over 10 years old). That's now the 4th time by my count.
The longer this debacle continues the more I'm certain that M$ doesn't care about customers and only cares about their bottom line and the ongoing access to other people's data for their own purposes.
> The longer this debacle continues the more I'm certain that M$ doesn't care about customers and only cares about their bottom line
Microsoft was founded in 1975. How much longer is it going to take?
Buh-bye, MS
at the office, we are not going to Win11.
1. Win 10 machines which must be used will be moved to the 'special' network, which has no external access and is extremely locked down. There are other legacy machines already there. Legacy hardware/software will be replaced ASAP.
2. All other Win10 machines will be converted to Ubuntu.
3. New machines going forwards will be Ubuntu or Mac. Note that I have several quotes from Lenovo for desktop and laptop systems which ship with Ubuntu preinstalled, not Windows anything. HP (ick) and Dell (double ick) have been less forthcoming. It would appear that the future, around here at least, is Apple and Lenovo.
4. We are also moving on from MS server solutions. Our old WinServer 2016 and 2019 systems are being replaced by nice new hardware, running Linux server software. We like ADDS and GPOs... just not enough to stick with them unsupported, or to pay extra just because MS wants 2016 and 2019 gone. We will have all servers replaced by December.
5. the only real reasons to keep MS Office were Excel and Outlook. Excel is being replaced. Outlook... well, MS just 'increased security' on Outlook; older Mac systems are getting notifications that some accounts, notably Gmail accounts, require that the user update to the latest version of macOS. Simpler solutions for most legacy Macs were to delete Gmail accounts from Outlook or just to delete Outlook. As the legacy Win10 systems are locked down with no external access, the Outlook problems do not affect them. The last remaining MS Office installs will be on machines which are locked away from external connections and which will never, ever, be upgraded. (They will also never, ever, see MS adware.)
Congratulations, Sad Nad. You have succeeded in making this company Microsoft-frei, or at least it will be in the foreseeable future. Good job. Do carry on. Apple, Ubuntu, and Lenovo sales should send you a gift basket.
I wouldn't hold your breath...
> The company now risks businesses and users remembering the heavy-handed tactics when making IT decisions in the future.
I wish.