Microsoft will stop selling Windows 10 licenses this month

[midian182]

What just happened? Windows 10 is still found a lot more devices than Windows 11, despite Microsoft's efforts to get people onto its latest operating system. Redmond's next push is a significant one: later this month, the company will stop issuing Windows 10 licenses via its website.

Microsoft has revealed on the softwares' official product pages that it will stop directly issuing licenses for Windows 10 Home, Pro, and Workstation. The disclaimer states that January 31, 2023, is the last day consumers can download the operating systems from Microsoft's site.

The notice emphasizes that despite stopping downloads, Windows 10 will continue to receive security updates protecting PCs from viruses, spyware, and other malware until October 14, 2025.

If you want to download Windows 10 from Microsoft's website, you have less than two weeks to do so. The company charges $139 for Windows 10 Home, $199 for Windows 10 Pro, and $309 for Windows 10 Pro for Workstations.

This only applies to digital downloads of Windows 10 bought directly from Microsoft's site by consumers; OEMs will likely still be able to buy licenses. There are also numerous third-party retailers selling downloads and physical copies, including OEM copies of Home and Pro available on Amazon, and the many sites selling product keys for low prices. Microsoft's Media Creation Tool for Windows 10 is still available, too.

More Steam users are moving to Windows 11

While there was a lot of initial pushback against Windows 11, the OS continues to erode its predecessor's user share in the Steam survey. It's now found on almost 3 out of 10 of participants' PCs, suggesting gamers are starting to warm to Windows 11, or maybe they simply hate it less.

We also recently heard that many corporations are preparing to switch to Windows 11. That's good news for Microsoft as the enterprise segment is traditionally the slowest to upgrade to the latest Windows operating system.

Ultimately, though, plenty of people are adamantly against leaving Windows 10, much like we saw with Windows 7. Expect this crowd to hang on until support ends in two years (and beyond, probably).

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https://www.techspot.com/news/97316-microsoft-stop-selling-windows-10-licenses-month.html

 

[Burty117]

Unlike going from Windows 7 to Windows 8, Which no one wanted to do because Windows 8 was hated, and for fairly good reasons. Moving from Windows 10 to Windows 11 doesn't change a whole lot on the surface of it, it feels more like a GUI change than anything.

So I get why people don't want to move, Windows 10 works absolutely fine and it doesn't quite feel like an upgrade moving to 11. Unlike the move from 7 to 8 which ultimately felt like pulling your own eyes out.

I guess in three years time we'll be reading a story how Windows 11 has started overtaking 10 in terms of market share.

 

[wiyosaya]

No wonder why M$ is laying off 10,000 employees.

 

[Nobina]

Windows 10 still had an annoying start menu with rectangles from Windows 8. Windows 11s start menu actually works and looks decent. Windows 11 is just overall a "nicer" Windows 10 with no major drawbacks I can think of.

 

[wiyosaya]

Unlike going from Windows 7 to Windows 8, Which no one wanted to do because Windows 8 was hated, and for fairly good reasons. Moving from Windows 10 to Windows 11 doesn't change a whole lot on the surface of it, it feels more like a GUI change than anything.

So I get why people don't want to move, Windows 10 works absolutely fine and it doesn't quite feel like an upgrade moving to 11. Unlike the move from 7 to 8 which ultimately felt like pulling your own eyes out.

Not to mention that many if not most Win 10 users will need to buy new hardware.

I guess in three years time we'll be reading a story how Windows 11 has started overtaking 10 in terms of market share.

If then, even.

 

[hazphan]

I would absolutely switch to Windows 11 from 10 if the product offered any form of benchmark results that are compelling to do so, or say a new feature that I can't live without. Even though it's a free upgrade, Microsoft forgot to provide incentive to do so. The only thing I've heard that I would be interested in is Direct Storage technology, but this wasn't available at release. It's like buying an early access game in Steam that promises there will be a version 1.0 someday. I put it on the back burner and lose interest over time.

 

[Gastec]

"It's now found on almost 3 out of 10 of participants' PCs, suggesting gamers are starting to warm to Windows 11, or maybe they simply hate it less".
It's called being a trapped consumer and we are cold, in body and soul.

 

[Burty117]

Not to mention that many if not most Win 10 users will need to buy new hardware.

I don't think it's as bad as you think, Intel 8th gen onwards is fully supported, so pretty much all machines built from 2018 onwards. It's 2023, if you're machine is more than 5-6 years old, chances are you'll be replacing it in the next couple of years anyway.

I've been recommending sticking with Windows 10 and moving to Windows 11 when you get a machine as it seems like the most logical way forward.

I would absolutely switch to Windows 11 from 10 if the product offered any form of benchmark results that are compelling to do so, or say a new feature that I can't live without. Even though it's a free upgrade, Microsoft forgot to provide incentive to do so. The only thing I've heard that I would be interested in is Direct Storage technology, but this wasn't available at release. It's like buying an early access game in Steam that promises there will be a version 1.0 someday. I put it on the back burner and lose interest over time.

Direct Storage is something that may start to come into its own over the next few years. The Thread Scheduler in Windows 11 has been changed over to work better with processors with efficiency cores, It can actively move a running thread, Worth a little read up of Intel's Thread Director and how it works with Windows 11.

I'm unsure if it's actually live yet but Windows 11 will be able to run Android apps natively, its more secure than Windows 10 due to forcefully turning on security measures like Credentials Guard.

On a personal level I like the fact explorer is now tabbed, along with command prompt / powershell. I think window management is much better and the ability to take a laptop out of its dock, then back in and it remembers where all your Windows were is awesome.

I'm not saying it's an absolutely massive upgrade over Windows 10, but it definitely feels like quite a nice quality of life update for sure.

 

[polord]

Licenses….?

 

[Guillermo Belli]

Win11 market share continues to grow because new computer come with Win11 and you have no choice. Maybe corporate clients can order computers with Win10, but regular consumers can't.

 

[dangh]

Even more bloatware and unrequested processes, not adjustable UI, not cancel-able DRM / TPM, enforced updates, user data available on demand (telemetry), pushed integrity (integration with Android phones is there for MS to collect all the data Google is collecting and more), advertisement in UI...
It is great OS - for Microsoft. Thankfully at current stage Linux is solid replacement.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

When did Windows 11 come out of beta?

Maybe I need to crawl back under my rock....

 

[Raytrace3D]

I've used Windows 11 on VM's and on a laptop I recently purchased... and I hate it. I have never spent so many hours Googling how to restore UI options that have been hidden, removed or otherwise no longer exist. Why would they go backwards for the sake of a "pretty" OS? Windows is a tool first... yet Microsoft seems to have forgotten that. If I could, I would go back to 10 for the new laptop, but I'm not sure how 10 handles the whole P-core, E-core setup.

 

[yRaz]

Even more bloatware and unrequested processes, not adjustable UI, not cancel-able DRM / TPM, enforced updates, user data available on demand (telemetry), pushed integrity (integration with Android phones is there for MS to collect all the data Google is collecting and more), advertisement in UI...
It is great OS - for Microsoft. Thankfully at current stage Linux is solid replacement.

I've been migrating to Linux for years now and lessening my dependence on windows. As soon as windows 10 support ends I'm going Linux full time. I'm already 90% Linux and the other 10% is for games that won't run because their DRM is anti Linux

 

[BadThad]

Once again lying Microshaft tries anything to cram their preferred OS down the throats of unwilling users. They told us "Windows 10 will be the last version of Windows"....nope, here's Windows 11! My main machine will certainly run it but I have ZERO reasons to go to 11. That would mean more hours spent tweaking the 11 OS to remove all the MS bloatware/spyware built in - I DON'T USE ANY OF IT! I have my Win10 pretty darn lean and mean - quite few services are full OFF....just how I like it.

 

[netman]

"Microsoft will stop selling Windows 10 licenses this month"

Good thing I have five licenses already...!

 

[Threadcount]

Looks like they have a license to kill

 

[nismo91]

The reason why Windows 11 is popular is simply because Windows 7, 8 and 10 keys worked means you do not have to buy a new one.

I remember the days where we have to buy an "upgrade license" which costs less than half of what an OEM license is and back then it was considered a deal. now not only you do not have to pay for an upgrade, you can even use Windows 11 (also 10) without any license key at all (watermark mode).

if microsoft doesn't put TPM requirement in the first place... windows 10 and 11 would be neck and neck today.

 

[Raytrace3D]

"Microsoft will stop selling Windows 10 licenses this month"

Good thing I have five licenses already...!

I use an MSDN license with a 1000 activations.

 

[brunocasarini]

Not to mention that many if not most Win 10 users will need to buy new hardware.

That's especially true here in Brazil, where hardware is ridiculously overpriced.

 

[tellmewhy]

It's like an ice cream company stop selling chocolate flavoured ice cream which is preferred by 80% of their customers and say "I don't care what you want" from now on you will eat strawberry flavoured ice cream because it's a more interesting flavour.

Advanced marketing tactics, so advanced that no one understands them

 

[brucek]

It's like an ice cream company stop selling chocolate flavoured ice cream which is preferred by 80% of their customers and say "I don't care what you want" from now on you will eat strawberry flavoured ice cream because it's a more interesting flavour.

It's a lot less reasonable than even that, since any human is at least theoretically free to choose either chocolate or strawberry, while the majority of PC hardware currently in existence can not (officially) run Windows 11 at all.

 

[brucek]

I don't think it's as bad as you think, Intel 8th gen onwards is fully supported, so pretty much all machines built from 2018 onwards. It's 2023, if you're machine is more than 5-6 years old, chances are you'll be replacing it in the next couple of years anyway.

That's probably true for PC gamers where the incremental performance improvements may be needed, but I think it's a lot less true for the much wider world of regular use. The most common home and workplace requirements go little beyond web browsing, file storage, maybe Microsoft Office, etc. and six year old machines are still 100% capable for these missions and from a hardware perspective may continue to be so for many, many years to come.

This is what's so offensive about Microsoft's actions - they are missing yesterday's world where genuine rapid hardware advances justified replacing devices that quickly, and trying to artificially recreate that same situation when for the largest portion of devices, there is no good reason to throw out a six year old computer and at least to me it is deeply offensive that a corporation is trying to force this massive economic waste by withholding security patches for bugs that it created in the first place.

 

[MarkHughes]

This machine I am on now aces every windows 11 hardware check, I can't install it though due to the age of the computer which Microsoft decided was too old, Same with my Mrs laptop. So remove this arbitrary requirement first eh ?

 

[MSIGamer]

I don't think it's as bad as you think, Intel 8th gen onwards is fully supported, so pretty much all machines built from 2018 onwards. It's 2023, if you're machine is more than 5-6 years old, chances are you'll be replacing it in the next couple of years anyway.

This is a load of bull. Most computers at my job use systems that are not compatible with windows 11, and they have powerful 8 core parts, 9900k (built in 2019), that don't need upgrading in the near future.
My gaming pc combined with an rtx card is in the same boat.
It's ridiculous to give up on windows 10 while there are so many perfectly capable systems that can go on for years,but are not eligible to upgrade