Windows 10 End of Life
Overview
Today (mostly) marks the end of support for Windows 10 for the average consumer. Businesses that use the LTSC versions will have support for longer, as well as companies who are willing to pay for updates. Windows 10 was a major change from Windows 8 (8.1), and several of the changes were due to customer feedback. Despite the initial issues and reputation of Windows 10, it has become the next Windows 7 in people not wanting to move on to the next supported version.
Windows 10 was the successor to Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, and built upon the architecture and security features of those operating systems. It ditched (mostly) the Metro user interface, although remnants of that UI can be found in even the latest version of the operating system. Windows 10 is also significant as it is the last version of Microsoft Windows that supports the x86 architecture. Future versions of Windows are only supported on the x64 and ARM platforms.
Despite some criticisms of the first few releases related to bugs, dependencies on online services, telemetry tracking, and bloated apps that were seemingly pointless (Paint 3D and Mixed Reality was completely useless to 99% of users), it reached its peak at 70% of Windows market share in 2024. There was a lot of push to move people to it, and Microsoft went as far as to offer free upgrades for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users just to move as many people as they could to Windows 10.
Windows 11 is the successor to Windows 10, and the number of issues has somewhat forced Microsoft to provide updates for an additional year for some consumers through the Extended Security Updates (ESU) program. There is more to it than that, but for some people Windows 10 technically has another year to go.
The Last Version of Windows?
This is a complete myth and was never officially announced by Microsoft. The idea of Windows 10 being the last version of Windows was attributed to a comment from Jerry Nixon, who was a senior Windows developer who stated it during the 2015 Microsoft Ignite conference. The comment in question has led to a lot of incorrect information about Windows 10 and why there is even Windows 11 in the first place:
“Right now we’re releasing Windows 10, and because Windows 10 is the last version of Windows, we’re all still working on Windows 10,” Nixon continued. “And it’s really brilliant. So I can say things like, yeah, we’re working on interactive tiles and it’s coming to Windows 10 in one of its future updates, right.”
— Jerry Nixon at the 2025 Microsoft Ignite Conference.
What he probably meant to say was “latest version of Windows” and not the “last version of Windows,” and that one word caused a considerable amount of confusion. Windows development has always been a complex process, especially during the Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 days, and the only way to truly move forward is with a completely “new” version.
My Experiences with Windows 10
I never really cared about it, and I think it was perfectly fine as the successor to Windows 8.1 which was also perfectly fine. I used it for years at home and at work and I moved to Windows 11 when it was released. I always used supported hardware and software with it, so I never had any complaints. An operating system is just a shell to me for running applications, and I don’t obsess about the actual underlying software because it isn’t relevant to me at the end of the day. I don’t sit there all day long looking at a blank desktop or clicking around in the Start Menu, so I don’t really care about the UI that much.
I remember doing the first rollout of Windows 10 a few months after version 1511 was released and it was mostly because of BitLocker being included with Windows 10 Pro. Windows 7 only supported BitLocker on Ultimate and Enterprise editions, and my company at the time wasn’t using those versions. Long story short, negative opinions of Windows 10 had already started circulating, and people were hesitant for some reason on using it. I never talk about previous employers, but I remember one user’s insistence on remaining on Windows 7 and I remember the interaction like it was yesterday:
“Under no circumstances are you to put Windows 10 on my laptop. I don’t want it, and I am happy with how everything is right now. I’m using Windows 7 and you aren’t moving me to Windows 10. Thank you.”
— User who had already had Windows 10 installed on their laptop for over 3 months.
As I stated above, I don’t really understand what the big deal was. I never use Home versions of Windows, so maybe I’m missing something.
Local Accounts vs. Microsoft Accounts
One of the biggest criticisms about Windows 10 and Windows 11 has been the escalating requirement to use a Microsoft Account instead of a local account. Workarounds exist to bypass this requirement, but in the process of creating a virtual machine to get a screenshot of the Windows 10 desktop for the RTM release I was reminded how easy it was to do this on the initial Windows 10 release:
This was also a nice reminder on how simple the initial Windows 10 release was for the OOBE, and how much scope creep has made the experience truly awful in recent versions of Windows.
And for the Windows 10 RTM desktop:
Full disclosure, I do not have any real issue with Microsoft Accounts for Windows 10 or Windows 11, or in general. I primarily use a MacBook Air and an iPhone as my laptop and phone, so I have an iCloud account that essentially does the same thing in a different ecosystem. Despite what has been said about it, you can use a local account on Windows 10 and Windows 11 without too much hassle, and it is a non-issue.
Windows 10 Version History
There are several different versions of Windows 10 that were released, all with different lifecycles that was supported by Microsoft. There were 14 different versions of Windows 10 that were released for the General Availability Channel (GAC), which differs significantly from earlier Windows releases. Aside from that, there were 4 releases of the Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) and 4 releases of Windows 10 Mobile (RIP). There is also the Extended Security Updates (ESU) program, which is a one-year extension of Windows 10 for certain users (not related to Enterprise service agreements).
General Availability Channel (GAC)
The General Availability Channel (GAC) consists of the Home, Pro, Enterprise and IoT versions of Windows 10. These versions are generally supported for up to 3 years after the release date (with some exceptions):
| Version | Codename | Marketing Name | Build | Release Date | Supported (Home, Pro) | Supported (Enterprise, IoT) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1507 | Threshold1 | N/A | 10240 | July 29, 2015 | May 9, 2017 | May 9, 2017 |
| 1511 | Threshold 2 | November Update | 10586 | November 10, 2015 | October 10, 2017 | April 10, 2018 |
| 1607 | Redstone | Anniversary Update | 14393 | August 2, 2016 | April 10, 2018 | April 9, 2019 |
| 1703 | Redstone 2 | Creators Update | 15063 | April 5, 2017 | October 9, 2018 | October 8, 2019 |
| 1709 | Redstone 3 | Fall Creators Update | 16299 | October 17, 2017 | April 9, 2019 | October 13, 2020 |
| 1803 | Redstone 4 | April 2018 Update | 17134 | April 30, 2018 | November 12, 2019 | May 11, 2021 |
| 1809 | Redstone 5 | October 2018 Update | 17763 | November 13, 2018 | November 10, 2020 | May 11, 2021 |
| 1903 | 19H12 | May 2019 Update | 18362 | May 21, 2019 | December 8, 2020 | December 8, 2020 |
| 1909 | 19H2 | November 2019 Update | 18363 | November 12, 2019 | May 11, 2021 | May 10, 2022 |
| 2004 | 20H1 | May 2020 Update | 19041 | May 27, 2020 | December 14, 2021 | December 14, 2021 |
| 20H2 | 20H2 | October 2020 Update | 19042 | October 20, 2020 | May 10, 2022 | May 9, 2023 |
| 21H1 | 21H1 | May 2021 Update | 19043 | May 18, 2021 | December 13, 2022 | December 13, 2022 |
| 21H2 | 21H23 | November 2021 Update | 19044 | November 16, 2021 | June 13, 2023 | June 11, 2024 |
| 22H2 | 22H24 | 2022 Update | 19045 | October 18, 2022 | October 14, 2025 | October 14, 2025 |
Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC)
The Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC)5 consists of the Enterprise and IoT Enterprise versions of Windows 10. The LTSC versions are meant for Enterprise customers and is not available for retail purchase:
| Version | Codename | Marketing Name | Build | Release Date | Supported (Enterprise) | Supported (IoT Enterprise) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1507 | Threshold | N/A | 10240 | July 29, 2015 | October 14, 2025 | October 14, 2025 |
| 1607 | Redstone | Anniversary Update | 14393 | August 2, 2016 | October 13, 2026 | October 13, 2026 |
| 1809 | Redstone 5 | October 2018 Update | 17763 | November 13, 2018 | January 9, 2029 | January 9, 2029 |
| 21H2 | 21H2 | November 2021 Update | 19044 | November 16, 2021 | January 12, 2027 | January 13, 2032 |
Windows 10 Mobile
There was a mobile version of Windows 10 (Windows 10 Mobile), which is no longer supported or developed:
| Version | Codename | Marketing Name | Build | Release Date | Supported (Windows 10 Mobile) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1511 | Threshold 2 | November Update | 10586 | November 10, 2015 | January 9, 2018 |
| 1607 | Redstone | Anniversary Update | 14393 | August 2, 2016 | October 9, 2018 |
| 1703 | Redstone 2 | Creators Update | 15063 | April 5, 2017 | June 11, 2019 |
| 1709 | Redstone 3 | Fall Creators Update | 16299 | October 17, 2017 | January 14, 2020 |
Windows 10 Mobile had limited options for certain handsets and was not well supported.
Extended Security Updates (ESU)
The Extended Security Updates (ESU) program allows customers to pay for extended support for Windows 10:
| Version | Codename | Marketing Name | Build | Release Date | Supported (Consumers) | Supported (Businesses) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22H26 | 22H2 | 2022 Update | 19045 | October 18, 2022 | October 13, 2026 | October 10, 2028 |
The option to get updates using the ESU program is also available at no charge for certain OneDrive users, and some users in Europe when using a Microsoft Account.
Links
- Neowin - Windows 10 reaches 70% market share as Windows 11 keeps declining (Local Version)
- PCWorld - Why is there a Windows 11? (Local Version)
- Microsoft - Extended Security Updates (ESU) Program for Windows 10 (Local Version)
- Microsoft - Windows 10 Enterprise and Education (Local Version)
- Microsoft - Windows 10 Release Information (Local Version)
- Wikipedia - Windows 10 Version History (Local Version)
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Threshold was the name of the planet that Installation 04 orbited in the original Halo game. This isn’t important, but I wanted to point it out. ↩︎
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Starting when Windows 11 was in development, version builds of Windows are labelled as YYHX. The YY represents the year of the release, and X represents the half of the year when it was released. For most Windows releases, the releases occur in the second half of the year. Windows 10 adopted this naming convention during the development of Windows 11. ↩︎
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Microsoft changed Windows to an annual release cycle starting with Windows 10 21H2 (Windows 10 November 2021 Update). ↩︎
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The Windows 10 22H2 release is the final version of Windows 10. ↩︎
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In Windows 10, the Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) was known as the Long-Term Servicing Branch (LTSB) in earlier releases of the operating system. ↩︎
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There will be no new features added to Windows 10 with the ESU program, and only security updates will be released. ↩︎