Microsoft said it will stop selling Windows 10 Home & Pro from January 31, 2023, as the last day the operating system can be downloaded for purchase.
Security updates, which help protect computers from viruses, spyware, and other malicious software, will continue to be available for Windows 10 until October 14, 2025.
In June 2021 Microsoft said it would cease to support Windows 10 in 2025, a decade after the operating system launched in 2015.
After a drip feed rollout that started in 2021, Microsoft moved into its full-scale deployment of Windows 11 to everyone with a compatible computer in May 2022.
Microsoft said Windows 10 users with compatible computers could upgrade to the latest operating system for free.
Recently, Microsoft updated its Windows 10 product information to indicate that users of the famous operating system will only be able to purchase it up until January 31st, however, it is uncertain how the company will handle downloads and license keys accessible from online stores such as Amazon.
Despite Microsoft’s announcement to suspend Windows 10 sales to customers, it is probable that Windows 10 license keys and computers with the OS preinstalled can still be procured from 3rd party external sources before the software giant totally ceases its support for the operating system.
Amy Bartlow, Windows marketing director, says an update was made to the Windows 10 product page to ensure customers have the latest information on purchasing options for Windows 10.
“Customers have until January 31, 2023, to purchase Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro,” she said.
According to statistics, as of August 29, 2022, windows 11 was installed on approximately 23 % of windows devices/PCs and windows 10 was currently installed on around 75 % of them.
The main reason for users not moving to Microsoft’s new OS was due to its hardware requirements.
While many end users’ devices had more than enough horsepower to run Microsoft’s windows 11 operating system, desktops, laptops, notebooks, and other legacy hardware platforms did not meet the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0 requirement leaving some consumers outraged.
Users trying to install the Windows 11 Insider Preview were greeted with an error message reading, “This PC can’t run Windows 11,” your system might not have two essential security settings turned on
For computers that are modern enough, it will likely be quite easy to turn on both TPM (Trusted Platform Module) and Secure Boot.
You don’t need to be tech-savvy to do this, and it’ll just involve you going through a few menus. If the term “BIOS menu” is unfamiliar to you, don’t be scared – it’s easy to do, even if you don’t have experience with it.
Although Microsoft is ending consumer sales of Windows 10, there are still plenty of other avenues to download the operating system or purchase it on DVD.
Amazon is currently offering the OEM version of Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro on DVD for $109.99 and $146.99
Microsoft also recently announced its plans to shut down its social virtual reality platform AltspaceVR, which offered immersive social spaces for people to interact with friends and colleagues as 3D avatars
In 2017, Microsoft purchased the AltspaceVR platform when the company announced its closure. Recently, Microsoft stated that they will be discontinuing the platform on March 10th, 2023.
