In October 2025 Windows 10 will cease to receive security updates, making it vulnerable to use on the internet. At this point, most of the security holes will have been found and fixed, however, there is always the (likely and unavoidable) chance that a bad actor has found security holes and is waiting for support to cease in order to fully exploit the vulnerable systems. This happened, more-or-less, with Windows 7 although I believe it was a good actor who found the vulnerabilities and pointed them out. Microsoft subsequently fixed the holes and released a final patch even though it was past end-of-life support, but there's no guarantee the same thing would happen nowadays. If anything M$ has become more cutthroat and self-absorbed, not less.
At any rate, you'll need to move on from Windows 10, for the most part. Microsoft is, apparently, going to offer another year's worth of security support for ~30USD - possibly doubling the fee in a year's time - but this is probably a temporary solution. Microsoft is also dropping support for Office 365 on Win10, and after a few years Google and the other web browsers will start dropping support for Windows 10, just as they have on Windows 7. Most machines past 2011 run fine on Windows 11, so upgrading is a relatively easy fix. Windows 11 has improved, however there is still a lot of dross you need to turn off. You could also purchase a new computer with Windows 11 on it, then you have to transfer all your data and programs/bookmarks over. And there's the e-waste/environmental factor in that option as well. Did you know it takes raw mined earth materials the size of a small car to make a computer (ignoring electrical/transport costs)?
Or, and this is an option that only works for some people, you can transfer to Linux, which runs on just about anything. Does it run Windows programs? It does not (there is some limited support via complicated interfaces). Do most common programs also have linux variants? Yes; Libreoffice, Firefox and Thunderbird do everything MS Office, Chrome and Outlook do, for the most part. Does it run most printers? Mostly, and the older the printer, the more likely it is to be supported. Is it easy to use? Nowadays, yes. Modern linux distributions like 'Mint' are at least as user-friendly as modern Windows and Mac interfaces. If all you're needing to do is browse the web, reply to emails and write documents, Linux is probably a good option for you, and one which has no ongoing costs or end-of-life date. There is however the downside that Linux problems, when they occur, tend to be more difficult to fix than windows ones.
For me, I stick with Windows, simply because the programs I need are there and not on Linux. M$ annoys me, but I spend so much time swearing at computers that they generally know how to behave when they're around me, and Windows tends to follow suit.
- written by Matt Bentley