Windows 10 reached end of support on 14 October 2025. Activation still works — and will continue to. The part that stopped is security updates. Those are two very different things, and conflating them is the source of most of the confusion.
Windows 11 — genuine perpetual licence, instant delivery
Activation continues. That’s not the issue.
Microsoft ends support for an OS — not activation. The two have never been linked. Windows 7 product keys still activate today. Windows XP’s activation servers still respond. Microsoft does not shut down activation infrastructure when an OS reaches end of life; it just stops patching it.
What that means in practice: a Windows 10 retail key still works on a fresh install. A digital licence tied to your Microsoft account reactivates automatically after a reinstall. OEM licences continue to work on their original hardware. None of that is changing.
What end of support actually means
From 14 October 2025, no more security patches, no more bug fixes, no driver updates from Microsoft. Your PC keeps running. The difference is that vulnerabilities discovered after that date don’t get fixed.
That gap compounds. Twelve months of unpatched CVEs is a real attack surface. Twenty-four months, considerably more so. This played out visibly with Windows 7 — its extended use long after EOL was directly exploited, and the pattern has no reason to be different for Windows 10.
Application support narrows at a different rate to security coverage, but it narrows. Some software already sets Windows 11 as its minimum requirement. Browsers tend to be the last holdouts, but enterprise tooling, security products, and developer runtimes tend to move faster. Over a two-to-three year horizon, software compatibility becomes a growing friction point.
Extended Security Updates: what they cost
Microsoft made Extended Security Updates available for Windows 10 consumers at £24 per device per year — the same model used for Windows 7 businesses. ESU buys you continued security patching. It does not restore new features, new driver support, or application compatibility improvements.
At £24 per year, ESU breaks even against a Windows 11 Home key in under eighteen months. After three years you have spent three times as much to stay on an OS with narrowing software support — and nothing transferable to new hardware. For the full detail on how ESU works and who it makes sense for, see our Windows 10 Extended Security Updates guide.
Upgrading: Home or Pro?
If your hardware meets the Windows 11 requirements — 64-bit CPU, 4 GB RAM, 64 GB storage, TPM 2.0, Secure Boot — the upgrade is straightforward. TPM 2.0 is the most common blocker; machines from before around 2017 often lack it or have it disabled in UEFI. Check there first.
For home use and personal professional work, Windows 11 Home covers everything. Pro adds BitLocker, Hyper-V, Remote Desktop Host, and domain join. If you don’t already know whether you need those features, you don’t need Pro. The price difference is £4.
For a full breakdown of what Pro adds and who actually needs it, see our Windows 11 Home vs Pro comparison.
- Personal & home professional use
- Full Windows 11 feature set
- DirectX 12, Xbox app, Microsoft Store
- Genuine retail licence — transferable
- Instant digital delivery
- Everything in Home
- BitLocker drive encryption
- Hyper-V virtualisation
- Remote Desktop Host
- Group Policy & domain join
The free upgrade path
As of writing, a valid Windows 10 licence still upgrades to Windows 11 via Windows Update if the hardware qualifies. Microsoft has not announced a firm end date for this, but they have also made no commitment to keep it open permanently. If your machine is compatible and you want to move, there is no good reason to wait.
If your hardware qualifies, see our step-by-step guide to upgrading Windows 10 to Windows 11 for free. If it doesn’t — TPM 2.0 is the most common blocker on pre-2017 machines — a retail key is the straightforward path.
If you need a new licence — either because your hardware is not compatible or you are building a new machine — a retail key at £34 or £38 is transferable to future hardware. That is meaningfully different from the OEM licence that ships with most retail PCs, which is tied to one machine permanently.
Quick reference
| Feature | After October 2025 |
|---|---|
| Windows 10 activation | ✓ Continues as normal |
| Reinstalling Windows 10 | ✓ Works — store an ISO now |
| Security updates | ✗ Ended 14 Oct 2025 |
| ESU (Extended Security Updates) | ~ Available at ~£24/yr per device |
| New feature updates | ✗ None |
| New driver support from Microsoft | ✗ Ended |
| Free upgrade to Windows 11 | ~ Currently open — not guaranteed |
| Application compatibility | ~ Narrowing over time |
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Activation and end of support are independent. Microsoft has never disabled activation for a retired OS — Windows 7 and Windows XP still activate today — and Windows 10 follows the same pattern. Your key does not expire.
For a machine that’s offline or used rarely, the risk is lower. For any PC used daily — browsing, email, work — staying on an unpatched OS is a genuine security risk that grows over time. ESU buys continued patching at a cost; upgrading to Windows 11 resolves it permanently.
Currently yes — Microsoft’s download page is still active. Whether it stays up long-term is uncertain; the Windows 8.1 ISO was eventually removed after that OS’s EOL cycle ended. Download a copy now, store it on a USB drive or external storage, and you remove the variable entirely.
If your machine meets Windows 11’s hardware requirements — particularly TPM 2.0 — the free upgrade via Windows Update is still available. That path is not guaranteed to remain open permanently. If you are buying a new machine or want a transferable licence independent of Microsoft’s current policy, a Windows 11 Home key is £34 and Pro is £38.
Home covers the vast majority of users. Pro adds BitLocker, Hyper-V, Remote Desktop Host, and domain join. If you are not specifically looking for one of those features, Home is the right choice. The price difference is £4.
An in-place upgrade via Windows Update preserves your files, applications, and settings. A clean install from a product key does not — you start fresh. Back up anything important regardless of which route you take; that is good practice before any OS change.
Gary Walsh is the Head of Tech Support at Software Supplies, with more than 20 years in the IT industry. Fully Microsoft-certified and experienced across the full business software stack — from Windows and Office to cloud infrastructure and device management — Gary delivers practical, no-nonsense advice that helps users and businesses get the most from their technology.
