Unless Microsoft didn’t already done very it’s clear he wants you to do it upgrade your Windows 10 PC this yearthe company announced that it would stop supporting Office apps on the legacy operating system in October.
In a blog postMicrosoft has confirmed that to continue using the Microsoft 365 suite of apps on your computer, you will need to “upgrade to Windows 11” by October 14, the same day support will also end for Windows 10. And in many cases, upgrading to Windows 11 will also require upgrading your machine.
This is because Windows 11 has quite heavy features hardware requirements that millions of older machines cannot satisfy, and Microsoft has already confirmed that it has no intention of changing these prerequisites.
The company is so confident in the move that Yusef Mehdi, Microsoft’s chief marketing officer, declared 2025 “the year of the Windows 11 PC refresh.”
“Whether the current PC needs a refresh or has security vulnerabilities that require the latest hardware protection, now is the time to move forward with a new Windows 11 PC,” he said. he writes in another blog postearlier this month.
It’s fair to say that some of the machines that won’t meet these minimum hardware requirements could be I’m approaching 10 yearsand could probably benefit from an upgrade anyway. But it is also true that the large number of Windows 10 machines (data published by Statistical counter in December 2024 suggests that there are almost twice as many PCs running Windows 10 as Windows 11, meaning they are unlikely to all be switched over before support ends.
There’s good news for all Windows 10 users hoping to keep and continue using their Office apps. Just like the operating system itself, Microsoft 365 won’t fall off the cliff and stop working on October 14. Microsoft confirmed that Office applications will “continue to function as before”, but that there could be “performance and reliability issues over time” as security and feature updates stop arriving.
If this is your tactic, it may be worth considering Microsoft Extended Security Updateswhich are offered to consumers for the first time. Users can pay $30 to secure their PC with updates for a year, while businesses can protect their machines for up to three years. This won’t stop your apps from becoming obsolete, of course, but it will at least help keep the bad guys out while you plan your next move.
