Microsoft is officially ending support for the Windows 10 operating system on October 14, 2025, after which time they will no longer address system bugs or discovered security vulnerabilities.
The general recommendation is to be running Windows 11 by this time to continue receiving important operating system updates.
While many Windows 10 machines that meet the requirements for Windows 11 are eligible for a free upgrade, Windows 11 has some specific CPU and other hardware requirements that not all older machines meet.
The most common road block to upgrading an older computer to Windows 11 is the absence of a newer type of system firmware interface called UEFI, Secure Boot which checks to make sure that critical startup files have not been altered by malware, and Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0, a type of hardware chip on the system board that stores cryptographic keys for encryption, decryption and authentication.
To check and see if your Windows 10 machine is compatible with Windows 11, Microsoft has release a tool called PC Health Check App which provides a detailed overview of the system requirements and whether or not your system meets them. You can download and run it using the link below:
https://aka.ms/GetPCHealthCheckApp
If you have an questions about upgrading your Windows 10 machine to Windows 11, or setting up a new Windows 11 computer if need be, feel free to reach out to me.
~Ted Eiler