Remember when Windows 10 was the last Windows ever? Don’t worry, Microsoft didn’t.
Microsoft today announced that non-enterprise versions of Windows 10 would be receiving its last update, 22H2. Microsoft will drop its support at a perfect 10-year service life, on October 14, 2025. Users are encouraged to upgrade to Windows 11… which has a polarizing reception at launch because of its more demanding requirements (of at least 4GB RAM) and unoptimized, clunky experience.
Also, in the same announcement, the next version of Windows 11 LTSC (Long-Term Servicing Channel) would be announced in the second quarter of 2024.
While Windows 10 will no longer receive updates, several programs will still support it for years to come as there are over 1.4 billion devices that still use the OS, according to Microsoft’s analytics.
Talking about LTSC, this version of Windows is intended for enterprises and large businesses and they won’t be affected by this EOL announcement. Only those that are used at home are.
Among other requirements Windows 11 needs are:
- An activated TPM 2.0 Trusted Platform Module) which applies to desktops as laptops already have this active
- Either an Intel 8th-gen or AMD Zen 2 CPU or newer
- 4GB RAM + 64GB storage
As you can see, you may need to purchase a new laptop or PC just so you could be updated as the requirements are stricter this time around. These system requirements will be the standard from now on.