Update: Republished on April 29 with new analysis of this latest move by Microsoft.
Decision time. Microsoft has just issued a detailed upgrade choice for the 240 million Windows users facing down the cyber nightmare of their PCs losing all security support with no free upgrade options remaining. Your PC will “no longer receive security or feature updates,” Microsoft warns, before providing advice on what to do now.
“Still using Windows 10?” WindowsLatest reported after spotting Microsoft’s new warning for those Windows 10 users caught in this nightmarish trap. “Microsoft recommends that users buy a secure Windows 11 PC, preferably the Copilot+ PC.”
This will hurt — a lot. Whilst 500 million Windows 10 users are sitting on a free Windows 11 upgrade offer, this less fortunate group needs to decide between a hefty PC upgrade bill or the risk of running the security gauntlet without support.
“Explore the latest Windows 11 and Copilot+ PCs at our global retail partners,” Microsoft says, “including Amazon, Best Buy, Boulanger, Costco, Currys, Elkjøp, Fnac, Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi, JD.com, MediaMarkt & SATURN, Officeworks, Sharaf DG and Walmart.” The Windows-maker’s post even includes shopping links to each.
“AI is no longer a buzzword,” the company says. “It’s changing how we tackle problems, with as many as 76% of consumers today using AI to get help with hard tasks. We are meeting this demand with AI experiences that are intuitive, fast and built-in, no subscriptions required, to help you be your most productive self.”
Cue a raft of complaints from Windows 10 users with perfectly good non-AI machines, now having to pick between recycling and landfill. “Copilot+ PCs are indeed a good choice,” Windows Latest says, “but it doesn’t make sense to ditch a fully-capable Windows 10 PC because it doesn’t support Windows 11’s system requirements of TPM 2.0. However, Microsoft says you should, and you have no choice.”
Put simply, the website says, “it’s time for consumers to decide. Windows 10 support is scheduled to end on October 14, 2025,” adding that in addition to the new post, Microsoft is also “resorting to full-screen pop-ups to raise awareness.” So, why the concerted push for Windows 10 users to buy new Copilot+ PCs?
“Well,” says XDA-Developers, “a recent report may be at the heart of this renewed push to adopt AI hardware. The report claimed that ‘only’ 20 million users use Copilot every week , a far cry from the 400 million that ChatGPT musters. Not only that, but the adoption rate has apparently plateaued. If Microsoft doesn’t do something soon, that 20 million figure can only stay the same or go down, neither of which is ideal for the company that invested billions in this tech.”
Microsoft paints a different picture. “We’ve been blown away by the early reception – we’ve never seen a faster adoption of a new category. As we shared in January, 15% of premium-priced laptops in the U.S. during the holiday quarter were Copilot+ PCs.” Whatever the reality, it wants to sell more — many millions more.
If you do decide to ditch Windows 10 for a new Copilot+ PC, you’ll also get to enjoy Recall, the controversial screenshotting feature that records everything you do on your PC to really keep you motivated to apply all the latest security updates. That’s a hellish data trove to ever lose. As I reported earlier, the latest warning for those who do enable it, is to let others know — it’s their data you’re also recording, remember.