Windows 10 Support Has Ended: What Should Vancouver Businesses Do in 2026?
By Anojh Thayaparan, Founder, Glimpse Networks
Windows 10 stopped receiving free security updates on October 14, 2025. If your business still runs it in 2026, you have four options. Upgrade eligible PCs to Windows 11 for free, replace the ones that can't, buy Extended Security Updates as a bridge, or move those workloads to cloud PCs. Doing nothing is the only choice with no upside, because every month adds unpatched vulnerabilities that attackers and cyber insurers both notice.
Where things stand in 2026
Microsoft's Extended Security Updates (ESU) program is now the only source of Windows 10 security patches. For businesses it runs up to three years, priced per device at USD $61 for year one and roughly doubling each year after. It's also cumulative, so joining late means paying for the years you skipped. The first ESU year ends in October 2026, which makes this summer the decision point: renew for a more expensive year two, or finish the migration.
One helpful exception. Microsoft has committed to security updates for Microsoft 365 Apps, meaning Word, Excel, and Outlook, on Windows 10 into 2028. That protects Office, not the operating system underneath it.
Option 1: Upgrade what's eligible, because it's free
Any PC meeting Windows 11's hardware requirements upgrades at no licence cost. That means TPM 2.0, Secure Boot, and roughly an Intel 8th-generation or AMD Ryzen 2000 processor or newer, which covers most machines bought after 2018. The work is in doing it properly: checking application compatibility, upgrading in waves, keeping a rollback plan. None of the work is in the licence.
Option 2: Replace what isn't
A PC that can't run Windows 11 is, by definition, seven or more years old and already past sensible refresh age. Replacing it usually costs less than two more years of ESU on hardware that's about to fail anyway. Spread the purchases across quarters, and remember that decommissioned drives need certified data destruction rather than a trip to the bin.
Option 3: ESU as a deliberate bridge
ESU earns its cost in one scenario: a specific machine that can't move yet, because it runs equipment control software or a legacy application awaiting replacement, and needs a bridge with an end date attached. Buy it for those devices and write the exit date down. Cloud alternatives sweeten this, since Windows 365 Cloud PCs and Azure Virtual Desktop include ESU for the Windows 10 devices that access them.
The risk nobody prices in: your insurance policy
Cyber insurance applications now routinely ask whether all systems are supported and patched. An unsupported Windows 10 fleet with no ESU can mean a declined claim at exactly the moment you need the policy. Unpatched, internet-connected machines are also the precise profile ransomware groups scan for. The cheapest option on paper turns into the most expensive one during an incident.