{
"title": "Windows 10's final year: how to keep your PC secure without creating e-waste",
"content": "On a Wednesday in July, consumer advocates in Denver staged a mock graveside service for dead electronics—including Windows 10 laptops, old Kindles, Spotify’s Car Thing, and discontinued Google Nest hardware. The message: software support cutoffs are turning perfectly functional devices into hazardous waste. But for the estimated 240 million PCs still running Windows 10, the operating system isn’t dead yet. Microsoft’s Extended Security Updates (ESU) program will deliver critical patches through October 13, 2026, buying users a year to plan—and pushing back against the narrative that millions of machines are already e-waste.

What the ESU program actually provides

Microsoft ended standard support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025. That meant no more free security updates, bug fixes, or technical assistance. However, the company offers a paid Extended Security Updates program for consumers and businesses running Windows 10 version 22H2. For a fee, enrolled devices receive critical and important security updates until October 13, 2026. These updates do not include new features, non-security fixes, or design changes—just the patches necessary to keep the operating system defended against known vulnerabilities.

Crucially, the ESU program does not extend the life of Windows 10 indefinitely. After October 2026, that support ends completely. For PCs that cannot upgrade to Windows 11 because of hardware requirements—such as a compatible processor, TPM 2.0, or Secure Boot—the choice will become stark: accept the security risks of an unpatched system, move to an alternative operating system, or replace the hardware.

What it means for you

Home users

If your Windows 10 PC still works well and meets your needs, don’t rush to the recycling center. First, check whether it can upgrade to Windows 11 using Microsoft’s PC Health Check tool. Many machines blocked by TPM or processor checks can be upgraded with a registry tweak, though Microsoft does not officially support that path. If you stay on Windows 10, you can enroll in the consumer ESU program—pricing has not been publicly detailed for individuals, but business plans start at $61 per device for the first year. The safest approach is to enroll as soon as possible to avoid a gap in protection.

For those unwilling or unable to pay, options exist but carry risks. You can continue using the PC for offline tasks like document editing or media playback, isolating it from internet connections that might expose it to attack. Or you can install a lightweight Linux distribution such as Linux Mint or Ubuntu, which breathe new life into older hardware and receive ongoing security support. However, this requires comfort with a different operating system and may not work for everyone.

IT administrators and managed fleets

For businesses, schools, and organizations with fleets of Windows 10 machines, the ESU program is a vital bridge. The one-year window allows time to budget for new hardware, plan migrations to Windows 11, or explore virtual desktop solutions. Microsoft’s offering for volume licensing customers covers all updates labeled “critical” and “important,” ensuring regulatory compliance for many industries. But admins should act now: enrollment is not automatic, and devices must be on Windows 10 22H2. Begin auditing your fleet, identifying machines that cannot upgrade, and mapping out a replacement or isolation strategy well before the October 2026 cutoff.

Developers and tech enthusiasts

If you build or maintain software that must run on older Windows versions, the ESU period gives you a year to validate compatibility with Windows 11 or to shift to supported frameworks. It also offers a window to test the upcoming Windows 11 24H2 release, which may relax some hardware requirements. Keep an eye on Microsoft’s hardware readiness documentation and the enthusiast community’s workarounds, but remember that unsupported configurations are not guaranteed to receive updates smoothly.

How we got here: the e-waste alarm

The Denver funeral was organized by CoPIRG, a consumer watchdog, to amplify a new report estimating that expired software and canceled cloud services have generated 1.7 billion pounds of U.S. electronic waste since 2014. According to CoPIRG, the expiration of Windows 10 alone could be responsible for up to 1.6 billion pounds of e-waste from PCs that cannot officially move to Windows 11. That figure is an extrapolation based on the number of incompatible machines multiplied by average computer weight; it is not a measurement of actual discarded devices.

CoPIRG’s campaign ties into a broader “right to update” movement. The group wants manufacturers to clearly disclose, at the point of sale, how many years they will provide software support and cloud connectivity. Failing voluntary cooperation, they intend to push Colorado legislators to add such requirements to existing right-to-repair laws. As CoPIRG director Danny Katz told The Colorado Sun, “To get the most life from a device, the best way is to use it longer, not to recycle it.”

The Kindle example was used bluntly: Amazon cut off store and library access for 13 older Kindle models in May, rendering them unable to acquire new books. However, Amazon notes that some older Kindles can still receive manual firmware updates and read locally transferred content. The nuance matters: software end-of-life doesn’t always mean a device becomes a brick—but it can strip away core functionality.

Microsoft’s hardware requirements for Windows 11, introduced in 2021, were designed to improve security and performance, but they also created a sharp division. The mandatory TPM 2.0 and eighth-generation Intel or AMD Ryzen 2000 series processors left many capable machines from 2017 and earlier ineligible. While Microsoft offered Windows 11 as a free upgrade, the hardware floor excluded a sizable fraction of the install base, fueling the fire of e