Critics Blast Microsoft’s Limited Reprieve For Those Stuck On Windows 10

Microsoft’s latest attempts to ease the transition to Windows 11 for Windows 10 users “don’t go far enough,” according to privacy campaigners that worry about the prospect of millions of PCs going to landfill.

Last week, Microsoft confirmed it would make the first year of Extended Security Updates (ESU) free. Kind of. To qualify, a user had to be an individual consumer, and if they didn’t want to pay $30 for the privilege, they could use Windows Backup to sync their settings to the cloud or redeem 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points.

Lucas Rockett Gutterman, Campaign Director for Designed to Last at the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), was unimpressed by the announcement and told El Reg: “Microsoft’s new options don’t go far enough and likely won’t make a dent in the up to 400 million Windows 10 PCs that can’t upgrade to Windows 11.

The ‘End of 10’ is nigh, but don’t bury your PC just yet

READ MORE

“Microsoft has already made some concessions after public pushback: providing ESU for individuals for the first time, affordable pricing for schools, and now their new OneDrive option. What they haven’t done is commit to automatically providing longer support for Windows 10 or loosening the hardware requirements for Windows 11.

“Microsoft is already committed to developing and deploying security updates for Windows 10 for at least three years through their ESU program. The decision to restrict those security updates behind a paywall is a business decision, not a technical one.”

In 2023, PIRG petitioned Microsoft to extend the life of Windows 10. In October 2025, support for many editions of Windows 10 will end, but due mainly to the company’s strict hardware requirements, millions of devices cannot be upgraded to Windows 11.

As we’ve pointed out before, there are alternatives to the Windows operating system, though those Penguin-shaped options might not suit everyone – especially biz organizations with fleets of devices.

Microsoft’s announcement does not apply to Windows 10 commercial customers. The company still wants $61 per device for the first year of ESU, a price that will increase over subsequent years. An alternative is Windows 365, which will keep the patches flowing.

Marcel Calef, field CTO Americas at workplace monitoring business ControlUp, told The Register: “No organization will want to pay the $61 fee, especially since it doubles the following year. While the extended security updates will give organizations time to line up their upgrade strategies, the gap between Windows 11 features and the older Windows 10 will continue to widen, particularly around Universal Apps (a.k.a. AppX) and cloud and AI-related features.”

This week, ControlUp released its latest Windows 11 Readiness Report, which found that 50 percent of enterprise Windows endpoints had yet to complete a migration to Windows 11. The figure is a great improvement over last year’s data, which showed more than 82 percent of enterprise devices not running Windows 11, but as Calef said in the company’s post, “it’s not time to relax.”

According to ControlUp’s figures, while some sectors such as Education and Technology are pushing ahead with the migration, others are falling behind. Just over 41 percent of endpoints in healthcare are running Windows 11. Nineteen percent of endpoints will need to be replaced entirely.

With less than four months before the end of Windows 10 support for many devices, this apparent softening of Microsoft’s stance, albeit with strings attached, might give some customers hope that further concessions could come. However, it would take a brave user to play that particular game of chicken.

“It’s obvious that users are frustrated,” said Gutterman. “They feel yanked around and don’t think this announcement provides a viable solution. ®

Original Source