Microsoft emails Windows 10 holdouts: Fine, keep your old PC another year

OS platforms

Consumer security updates now run to October 2027, and Redmond doesn't mention Windows 11 once

Microsoft has begun sending its email of shame to Windows 10 consumers, reminding them that Extended Security Updates will run for an extra year. Strangely, some email clients are treating this latest emission as mere spam.

Microsoft last month extended consumer ESU coverage through October 12, 2027. The company is now notifying those customers who might not have noticed the update on the support page that they've got another year to buy a new PC.

The email talks about "our ongoing commitment to helping customers stay secure" while not mentioning Windows 11 or Copilot at all. Instead, it said: "We understand that moving to a new PC can take time."

It also takes money. Windows 11's hardware requirements left millions of otherwise functional PCs ineligible for the upgrade amid soaring component prices, and the extension could further delay any Windows 10-driven PC replacement wave hardware vendors were hoping for. Consumers receiving  the email have another year to see if hardware prices stabilize or Microsoft blinks again. After all, ESU for commercial purposes currently runs to 2028.

Microsoft does not share official figures, but Statcounter shows that Windows 11 growth has mostly stalled in recent months. While Windows 11 accounts for about 70 percent of the Windows device market, there remains a substantial number of users sticking with Windows 10, many of whom will have received Microsoft's acknowledgement of the fact.

For Windows 10 holdouts, the message amounts to this: keep the old PC for another year. Microsoft can try the upgrade pitch again in October 2027. ®