If you’re still using Windows 10, it won’t have escaped your notice that Microsoft is keen for you to upgrade to Windows 11. Notifications have been popping up in Windows Update for some time, and recently users have been seeing full-screen adverts urging them to make the switch.
Yet users aren’t exactly rushing to embrace the new OS. According to StatCounter figures from March 2024, Windows 10 is still running on 69% of all desktop computers, with Windows 11 trailing behind at 26.7%. For a free upgrade, that’s a pretty low figure.
There’s no single reason why more people aren’t rushing to Windows 11. In some cases the new OS’s hardware requirements are an obstacle – but we’ve heard from many readers that, even though their PCs are capable of running Windows 11, they simply don’t want the upheaval of an OS upgrade when they already have Windows 10 running just the way they like it.
This is a perfectly respectable position; unfortunately, it’s not one you can sustain forever. Windows 10 reaches the end of its support period in October 2025, after which regular security updates will cease and it