Microsoft knows “many millions of users will not buy new devices or pay for extended support” when Windows 10 goes end of life in October, a new lawsuit alleges. “These users,” it claims, “will be at a heightened risk of a cyberattack or other data security incident, a reality of which Microsoft is well aware.”
The lawsuit filed in California by Lawrence Klein, the owner of two Windows 10 laptops set to become obsolete in 8 weeks, “seeks injunctive relief requiring Microsoft to continue providing support for Windows 10 without additional fees or conditions until the number of devices running the operating system falls below a reasonable threshold.”
Around 45% of all Windows users are still on the soon to be obsolete version of the OS and must now act to ensure PCs are safe from attack. That number was dropping, albeit it has seen a reverse following Microsoft’s decision to offer varying support extensions. That means 700 million users will be affected come October 14.
Klein says Microsoft decided to kill the older OS when “Windows 10 users represented more than half of the Windows operating system (OS) market share.” He also references the 240 million PCs that cannot upgrade, “forcing” users to “buy new devices capable of running Windows 11 or pay unanticipated sums for extended support.”
Putting upgrade costs aside, the security risks are clear. Microsoft’s “long-term business strategy” Klein says, “will have the effect of jeopardizing data security not only of Microsoft’s customers but also of persons who may not use Microsoft’s products at all.”
Windows 10 users can now extend support by paying between $30 and $60 or by for free subject to certain parameters. That support extension is available to all Windows 10 users, whether or not their PCs meet the hardware requirements for Windows 11.
Arguably, a better solution would be to extend Windows 10 support for free for PCs that can’t upgrade, while mandating the upgrade for those that can.
This lawsuit is the latest twist in a the windy road Windows 10 users have followed for the last year. Klein claims Microsoft’s primary intent in killing Windows 10 is “ to force its customers to purchase new devices optimized to run Microsoft’s suite of generative AI software such as Copilot, which comes bundled with Windows 11 by default.”
This approach, Klein’s lawsuit says, has the “inevitable effect of decreasing trade in generative AI products of Microsoft’s competitors, increasing the barriers to entry in the generative AI market, and dampening innovation and consumer choice.”
Klein wants Windows 10 to be supported until less than 10% of the Windows user base is using that version of the OS. That means more than 600 million more PCs upgrading to Windows 11. That will take some considerable time.
I have approached Microsoft for any response to the lawsuit.