Switch on the computer and get started, the thing has to work, that’s the point, isn’t it? Operating system – most computer users have no real idea of the term. Computers run either with Windows, or with MacOS, if it is one from Apple. Windows dominates the market with a share of about 70 percent, Apple comes to about 17 percent.
What the manufacturer Microsoft does or does not do with Windows therefore has a major impact. For example, when an old version expires and a new one comes out. By mid-October 2025 at the latest, support for Windows 10 for private users will end. This means: From this date onwards there will be no more security updates for it. Continuing to operate such a system would become more dangerous with each passing day, because security gaps would then no longer be closed and the computers would be an increasingly easy target for hackers. Only commercial customers can buy longer support – for a lot of money, of course.
Many computers will no longer run with Windows 11
A software update is therefore needed, but if Microsoft doesn’t give in, then many users of older computers will have a problem with it. Because for the successor system Windows 11, Microsoft has increased the hardware requirements considerably. It doesn’t help that the Windows 11 update should be free for private individuals. Many PCs that are not even that old will no longer run with it. Environmental organizations warn of a huge wave of electronic waste.
Microsoft’s step is surprising because the opposite has been observed in the past 15 years or so. Microsoft released many new operating systems, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10. But a computer that ran Vista – available to private customers since 2007 – often still works with Windows 10, even if it doesn’t have one rocket is.
So why this change of heart? There isn’t much enlightening information from Microsoft on this. The company only responded in writing to an interview request, with the general remark, among other things, that historically it has always been the case that the appearance of a new Windows operating system “was the time to increase the minimum requirements for the hardware”.
The alliance between Microsoft and Intel
Microsoft isn’t even wrong with that – but it also reminds us of a rather inglorious chapter in the company’s history. The Windows manufacturer Microsoft and chip manufacturer Intel both benefit greatly from the fact that the hardware requirements increase with each new Windows version, making it almost mandatory to buy a new computer if you want the new system. And the computers almost always had a processor from Intel.
The new software was always more extensive and therefore often cumbersome on old devices. With Windows Vista, for example, one had the feeling that the computer was already well utilized with the operating system alone. However, since the 2010s at the latest, computers have been so powerful due to technological progress that they should generally no longer choke on a new operating system. It should do its job inconspicuously in the background anyway. After all, the most important thing about a computer is the application software such as programs for writing, surfing and e-mails or for image processing. The operating system only creates the basis for this.
What to do?
So what can PC owners do? If they want to keep their old device and want security, they would have to disconnect it from the internet on October 14, 2025. Since that doesn’t make much sense most of the time, there are roughly two options left. Variant one: buy a new device. When support for Windows 10 ends in October 2025, there will certainly be plenty of used computers running Windows 11. But that should also be confirmed. Because there are tricks on how to install Windows 11 past Microsoft’s requirements. However, it is uncertain whether this will also work in future updates.
Variant two: The free Linux operating system also runs without any problems on older computers. Installation isn’t rocket science, nor is operation; additional software – also available at no extra cost – is easily installed using built-in tools. However, anyone who is dependent on certain software, for example for music production, image processing or video editing, must either familiarize themselves with the alternatives that the Linux world has to offer or – if there are no suitable alternatives or a switch is not an option – but choose variant one. You should donate the old device: converted to alternative systems, the PCs can still do their job for years. The minimum is to dispose of it properly so that the recyclables are not lost.
But why did Microsoft increase the hardware requirements in the first place and what is it about? It is a whole bundle of requirements that essentially serve security. However, this is not always entirely understandable. According to experts, Windows 11 differs only slightly under the surface from Windows 10. The requirements include a security chip and a start-up process that is intended to prevent manipulation, as well as the restriction to newer processors, i.e. the main chips of a computer. The security chip and secure boot process can be activated on some older computers, although not always without problems. When it comes to the processors, Microsoft and the manufacturers Intel and AMD do not reveal what their newer processors do differently than their predecessors. The hardware expert Christof Windeck from the trade journal c’t points out that the processor of the i-7000 series installed in Microsoft’s own computer Surface Studio 2 is classified by Intel as Windows 11-compatible, but other processors of the same series are not. He therefore considers Microsoft’s specifications to be arbitrary, at least for the processors.
PC sales are sluggish
So users are being forced, if you will, to be safe. But there could also be something else behind the move. In the Corona period, many bought a new PC, which is why sales are only sluggish. This also applies to Microsoft, because the company from Redmond still collects license fees from the hardware manufacturers, even if they now provide updates to private customers free of charge. The increased hardware requirements, which make many older computers obsolete in one fell swoop, seem like a self-made economic stimulus package.
Windows 10 should actually be the last Windows. Instead of launching a new version every few years, Microsoft wanted to continuously develop the system in small, semi-annual steps. But then you decided differently.