August 2026
Still on Windows 10 in 2026? What it means for a small business
Support ended. The machines still work. Here is what actually changes and how to plan the replacements without a panic.
By Matt Wilson, Engineering
Microsoft ended mainstream support for Windows 10 in October 2025. The computers did not stop working, which is why a lot of businesses still have them. What changed is that security fixes stopped arriving unless you pay for extended updates, and that has consequences.
Cyber insurance. Questionnaires ask whether all systems are supported and patched. Unsupported Windows 10 is a no, and a no that is easy for an insurer to find.Compliance. Any customer or regulator audit that asks about patching gets the same answer.Software vendors. Line-of-business applications are dropping Windows 10 from their supported list one release at a time.What to do: inventory which machines cannot run Windows 11, which usually means the older hardware. Replace those on a schedule spread across the year, not in one painful quarter. Enroll the new ones in device management so the setup takes minutes and the old habits do not come with them. For anything that truly cannot be replaced yet, extended security updates buy time, but they are a bridge, not a destination.
We do this as a rolling project for clients: a list, a schedule, a budget number per quarter, and machines that arrive configured.
A backup that has never been restored is a hope, not a plan. Ask for the date of the last tested restore.
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