Category : Software News, Windows | obsolescence, Windows 10 | 19 March 2025
Microsoft will stop releasing updates for Windows 10 starting October 14, 2025. The Seattle-based company announced the obsolescence of this operating system back in the then-distant 2021. The important question to ask is: “What will happen to my systems?”. If your application is industrial, you can rely on the IoT Enterprise versions, which guarantee 10 years of security updates. Using Windows 10 IoT Enterprise 2021, you can have the operating system updated until June 2032.
Taking a slightly deeper look reveals that Microsoft, with the release of Windows 10 in 2015, established a different sales and support policy compared to the past. Until then, Microsoft operating systems had a commercial name identifying a product (e.g., Windows XP, Windows 7, etc.) which Microsoft updated through different support lines. With the introduction of Windows 10, Microsoft maintained a single product line, changing the name and creating a discontinuity only in 2024 with the release of Windows 11. During the 9 years of Windows 10, the operating system changed substantially, following a line of build updates that consumer users could not avoid. Microsoft technicians can therefore focus on updates and fixes for the latest system version without having to maintain updates for previous build versions. This dynamic would have created huge problems in the industrial world because a designer invests time and resources to qualify the hardware and software system to be integrated into an industrial machine and would face difficulties if the operating system changed automatically during the machine’s life; in fact, compatibility problems could arise with each build update. Microsoft, mindful of the world of industrial applications, planned to release some versions of Windows 10 dedicated to the embedded world. These versions are characterized by a support line that is guaranteed regarding security updates for 10 years from release. TPole can therefore support customers in choosing, customizing, and installing the following alternative versions:
- Windows® 10 IoT Enterprise 2015 (build 1507) – Extended support end date 2025-10-14
- Windows® 10 IoT Enterprise 2016 LTSC (build 1607) – Extended support end date 2026-10-13
- Windows® 10 IoT Enterprise 2019 LTSC (build 1809) – Extended support end date 2029-01-09
- Windows® 10 IoT Enterprise 2021 LTSC (build 21H2) – Extended support end date 2032-06-13
These operating systems cannot be updated to subsequent builds and can be configured to receive online updates or not. TPole is able to support customers in choosing the best update policy and method (online, offline, or via dedicated servers) for the scenario implemented in the field. For further information on operating systems in general, please check our operating systems page ; for more information on customizations, check our page about bespoke operating systems images. If you have uncertainties about the operating system versions installed on your machinery, contact us for clarification.
