Still Running Windows 10? Your Three Options, Priced Out

Microsoft ended support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025. Nearly a year on, plenty of businesses still have machines on it, and the reason is not negligence. It is that nothing visibly happened. The computers boot, the applications open, staff get their work done, and an operating system that appears healthy is hard to prioritize against everything else competing for budget.

The change being invisible is the problem. Researchers and attackers keep finding new flaws in Windows 10. Microsoft has stopped fixing them. Every month adds to a permanent inventory of openings that will never be closed, on machines that keep looking perfectly fine.

What end of support actually removed

When Microsoft ends support for a Windows version, the monthly security patches stop, along with quality updates, feature updates, and technical support. Since October 2025 that has been the state of Windows 10.

Nothing switched off. No license expired. What changed is that the manufacturer of the software running your business stopped repairing it, while the people looking for ways in did not stop looking.

Why this shows up in places you would not expect

The security exposure is the obvious cost. Attackers scan for systems running software that no longer receives fixes, because those flaws are permanent and often exploitable without much skill. The UK’s NCSC has been blunt about unsupported products remaining exploitable indefinitely, and CISA lists running supported, patched software among the basic steps every business should have in place.

Three other consequences land harder in practice.

Compliance is the first. If you process card payments, handle health records, or hold regulated personal data, frameworks like PCI DSS and HIPAA expect supported and patched systems. Windows 10 no longer qualifies.

Cyber insurance is the second, and it surprises owners. Carriers increasingly ask whether your systems are supported and patched, both at renewal and at claim time. An unsupported operating system can raise your premium, narrow your coverage, or give an insurer grounds to contest a claim you were counting on.

Software attrition is the third. Browsers, accounting packages, and line-of-business applications gradually drop Windows 10. The tools your staff use every day stop updating, and eventually stop working.

The three paths, with actual numbers

Most businesses end up using more than one of these, machine by machine.

Upgrade to Windows 11

If the hardware qualifies, this is free and usually the right answer. Eligibility is the constraint. Microsoft requires Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, and a processor on its supported list, which excludes a meaningful share of older machines. The free PC Health Check application answers the question for any specific computer. Anything purchased in the last several years generally passes.

Extended Security Updates as a bridge

For machines that cannot move yet, Microsoft sells Extended Security Updates to keep security patches flowing. For businesses that runs $61 per device for the first year, and the price doubles each year after that for up to three years, so one machine kept on ESU for the full term costs roughly $427. Home users get better terms, a one-time $30 payment covering up to ten devices through October 12, 2027, but that program does not cover business use.

ESU buys time and nothing else. No new features, no meaningful support. It is a bridge to an upgrade or a replacement, and treating it as a destination is how the cost quietly compounds.

Replace the machine

Some computers are too old for Windows 11 and not worth paying escalating ESU fees to keep alive. Once you add up three years of ESU plus the maintenance overhead of aging hardware, a new PC running Windows 11 is often cheaper outright.

How to work through it

You do not need to resolve everything at once, but you do need an inventory, because decisions made machine by machine without one tend to be expensive.

List every computer still on Windows 10, then establish which of them Windows 11 will accept, using PC Health Check or your IT provider. Upgrade everything eligible, since it costs nothing and leaves files and applications untouched. For the remainder, weigh ESU against replacement by the machine’s age and its job. A five-year-old PC at a reception desk and a two-year-old workstation running your accounting system deserve different answers.

Getting a straight answer for your machines

MVP Network Consulting does this assessment for businesses across Buffalo and Western New York: a complete inventory, a per-device verdict on upgrade, extend, or replace, and a realistic cost for each path. If you are not certain how many Windows 10 machines you still have, that number is the place to start. Contact us and we will find out.