Windows 10 will end support starting tomorrow.

On October 13th, Jiemian News learned from the official Microsoft website that Microsoft will stop providing support services for the Windows 10 operating system starting from October 14th. This system will no longer receive Microsoft's technical assistance, feature updates, and security updates. Microsoft recommends that users upgrade their devices to Windows 11. For devices that do not meet the technical requirements to run Windows 11, users can register for the Windows 10 Extended Security Updates (ESU) program or replace their devices with ones that support Windows 11.

Image source: Microsoft official website

Windows 10 was first rolled out to global users on July 29th, 2015. It integrated the traditional desktop experience of Windows 7 with the modern application features of Windows 8, introduced the Cortana voice assistant and the brand - new Edge browser, and also supported functions such as multi - task virtual desktops. In the following years, Windows 10 was continuously updated, with its performance constantly optimized, bugs fixed, and new features added.

However, with the rapid development of technology, Microsoft began to encourage users to migrate to Windows 11. Windows 11 was released in 2021. It has a more concise and beautiful design, further optimized performance, enhanced multi - tasking capabilities, and significant improvements in security features. For example, it introduced hardware - based virtualization security technology, emphasizing the protection of user data and privacy.

According to data from the analytics firm Statcounter in July, four years after its release, Windows 11 surpassed Windows 10 for the first time with a market share of approximately 52%, becoming the most widely used Windows operating system globally.

Jiemian News compared Windows 11 and Windows 10 and found that Windows 11 has better updates than Windows 10 mainly in aspects such as interface and file management, security protection, and multi - device and scenario interaction. For example, Windows 11 adopts a more concise and beautiful UI style and exclusively supports tab pages in File Explorer, allowing users to manage multiple folder windows like browser tabs. Windows 10 does not have this tab - page function or intelligent suggestion optimization.

In terms of security protection, Windows 11 mandates TPM 2.0 (Trusted Platform Module) to prevent malicious tampering at the hardware level; it also adds intelligent application control, which only allows the installation of trusted applications (this feature needs to be enabled on a brand - new Windows 11 system and cannot be enabled when upgrading from an old system). Windows 10 does not have a mandatory requirement for TPM 2.0 and does not have the intelligent application control function.

In addition, Windows 11 Pro supports BitLocker drive encryption (full - disk encryption to prevent data leakage in case of device loss), while Windows 10 Home Edition does not have this function.

From its release to the end of support, Windows 10 had a service life of about 10 years. In the history of Microsoft's operating systems, this cycle is not short. For example, Windows XP was released in 2001 and support ended in 2014, with a service life of about 13 years; Windows 7 was released in 2009 and mainstream support ended in 2020, with a service life of about 11 years.

Although Windows 10 is about to stop service, many users are still using this system. Statcounter data shows that in July, Windows 10 had a global market share of 44.48%.

In the global desktop operating system market, in July, the Windows system accounted for 71.55%, OS X accounted for 9.11%, macOS accounted for 4.87%, Linux accounted for 4.11%, and Chrome OS accounted for 0.96%.

In Microsoft's fiscal year 2025 financial report ending on June 30th, the annual revenue of the personal computing business, including the Windows operating system, was $54.649 billion, a year - on - year increase of 7%. However, this figure was significantly lower compared to the Intelligent Cloud business, which had revenue of $106.265 billion in the same period, and the Productivity and Business Processes business, which had revenue of $120.81 billion.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Jiemian News". Author: Song Jianan. Republished by 36Kr with permission.