Consumer Reports wants Microsoft to prolong Windows 10 support for free
American advocacy group Consumer Reports is calling on Microsoft to provide free extended support for consumers who have not or cannot make the transition to Windows 11.
Consumer Reports is concerned about Microsoft’s decision to no longer roll out free security updates for Windows 10 after October 14, 2025.
“This decision will strand millions of consumers who have computers that are incompatible with Windows 11, and force them to pay $30 for a one-year extension of support, spend hundreds on a new Windows 11-capable computer, or do nothing and see the security and functionality of their computer degrade over time,” the consumer advocacy group writes in an open letter addressed to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
The latter option is particularly problematic for both consumers and entrepreneurs, because it offers hackers and cybercriminals possibilities to exploit zero-day vulnerabilities of Microsoft’s operating system in the future, risking national security.
According to Statcounter, Windows 10 is currently installed on an estimated 46% of Windows computers, and a significant percentage of these machines are unable to run Windows 11. Consumer Reports argues that the decision to make Windows 11 incompatible with existing hardware, and giving consumers and business owners only a few years to replace their hardware, doesn’t line up with consumer expectations and Microsoft’s own history.
“Microsoft has long focused on backwards compatibility for Windows, ensuring it can run on older hardware. This means that consumers could expect to be able to run the latest version of Windows for at least a dozen years and maybe more,” the consumer interest group states.
To update to Windows 11, devices need to meet hardware requirements, including a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 and a 64-bit processor to boost the cybersecurity of Windows machines. This means that an estimated 200 million to 400 million PCs worldwide cannot be upgraded to Windows 11, leaving them vulnerable to cyber threats.
“When Microsoft announced in late 2021 that it would require specific hardware components that hundreds of millions of PCs on the market would not have, it left consumers who had recently made a purchase of incompatible hardware behind,” Consumer Reports notes.
Therefore, the interest group is asking Satya Nadella to extend security updates for free to all users who are unable to update their devices, and to continue providing that support for free until more users have transitioned off the older OS.
Earlier this week, Microsoft sent out a reminder that consumers have less than 30 days to upgrade their machines to Windows 11, or participate in the company’s Extended Security Updates (ESU) program.