News Analysis
Microsoft faces a significant transition in 2025 as Windows 10 approaches its end of support deadline on Oct. 14. Despite Windows 11's availability as a free upgrade since 2021, adoption has been notably slow, with current statistics showing roughly a third (33%) of PCs worldwide running Windows 11 while Windows 10 maintains a dominant 63% market share.
Microsoft's chief marketing officer, Yusuf Mehdi has branded 2025 as "the year of the Windows 11 PC refresh," a pivot from 2024's "year of the AI PC" messaging. The company is using a dual approach of incentives and pressure to encourage upgrades, emphasizing Windows 11's AI capabilities, enhanced security features and performance improvements, including ChatGPT integration and Microsoft's Copilot.
A Not So Gentle Push to Upgrade to Windows 11
The transition impacts the enterprise and consumers alike. The upgrade requirement has proven controversial due to Windows 11's strict hardware requirements. While Microsoft is offering extended security updates for Windows 10 ($30 for individuals, $61 per machine for organizations in the first year and doubling to $122 per device, then $244 per device in the third year), it is also actively pushing users toward new hardware purchases. This strategy has frustrated many Windows 10 users who feel their functioning PCs are being prematurely obsolesced.
However, market research from IDC suggests this push aligns with natural upgrade cycles, reporting that 80% of businesses plan to refresh their PC fleets by late 2025, with 70% of consumers expecting to upgrade within two years. By the October 2025 deadline, PCs unable to run Windows 11 will be a decade old, though some technically unsupported machines can run the OS with modifications.
For digital workplaces, it is also worth noting that Teams Rooms on Windows 10 will also lose support on Oct. 14. For organizations using these rooms, Microsoft emphasizes the need to plan, stating that upgrading to Windows 11 is "essential to continue enjoying the latest productivity, security, and management features." The company promises to support Teams Room app on Windows 11 through the transition period, but organizations will need to assess their hardware compatibility and plan upgrades accordingly.
Keep in mind that certain Teams Room devices with older processors cannot upgrade, including specific models from Lenovo, HP, Yealink, and Crestron that use 7th-generation Intel processors or earlier. Also know that by October 2025, PCs a decade old or older cannot officially run Windows 11.
Related Article: Minimizing the Fallout When a Vendor Sunsets Your Digital Workplace Product
The Complexities of OS Migrations
"Operating system migrations can be extremely complex, requiring careful consideration of various factors such as application and hardware compatibility, user training and cost justification. It is not a decision or task typically left to individual users,” Nexthink VP of DEX strategy Tim Flower told Reworked.
Despite this complexity, operating system upgrades are rarely viewed as business critical. Instead, they are driven by necessity. “Rather than being seen as integral to supporting business objectives, operating systems and their supporting hardware are still regarded as a commodity by many businesses, with the focus remaining on applications,” Flower explained.
Embedded AI in hardware or operating systems may eventually shift this perspective by enhancing their value proposition, but this transformation will take time. “Swapping out every device, testing and operationalizing AI features, and training employees is a lengthy process,” he said. “Until then, the full benefits of embedded AI will only be available to a fraction of employees. This will delay the ability to take advantage of new capabilities across the whole organization.”
It’s a question of “when,” not “if.” Overcoming the inherent resistance to such upgrades will also require some strategic marketing. For example, Windows 10 was informally pitched as the 'last operating system,' emphasizing incremental updates over major version changes.
Both businesses and individual consumers will need to evaluate the benefits of new features against the learning curve and costs involved. Microsoft claims that its new AI-powered PCs are up to 58% faster than current MacBook Air models with M3 processors. However, the real-world impact of these hardware improvements on performance and user experience remains uncertain.
“Ultimately, it’s very unlikely that faster PCs bring significant enough value to justify the disruptions involved,” Flower pointed out. “Most employees aren’t spending long periods waiting for email, PowerPoint, or web applications to respond. Even a 50% reduction in processing time doesn’t translate to a game-changer for massive upgrades.”
That said, as AI capabilities in software continue to grow and consume more processing resources at the endpoint, the landscape could change. “If AI collaboration becomes ‘table-stakes’ for employees to perform their jobs, then keeping PC hardware up to speed will become essential,” Flower added.
Related Article: Microsoft Is Retiring Viva Topics. Here's What You Can Do
IT Is Under Pressure
The change will be significant for enterprise IT, which stands at an inflection point: either upgrade their client devices with higher hardware specifications to meet the more demanding Windows 11 system requirements, or pivot to a mix of thin client and cloud application streaming solutions, said Andrew DeFoe, principal product manager for Amazon WorkSpaces at AWS.
While OS updates are important, enterprises are increasingly adopting cloud-first strategies that minimize reliance on specific operating systems.
"The critical factor isn't necessarily upgrading to a new OS version, but ensuring business continuity and security," he said. IT teams will face the decision of whether to continue investing in hardware refresh cycles — driven by the growing system requirements for local AI compute — or take advantage of dynamic cloud-based access via lightweight clients.
“What we’re hearing from enterprise customers is that many feel as though they are being pressured to upgrade, despite Windows 11’s higher system requirements for familiar applications,” DeFoe added.
“We think enterprise organizations are prioritizing stability and proven solutions over rapid adoption of new platforms, however, the end of support date for Windows 10 will compel customers to transition to Windows 11 to minimize their risk of running an unsupported operating system or the cost of enrolling devices in the Windows 10 Extended Security Update (ESU) program.”
DeFoe also noted that migration decisions among enterprise customers are driven by factors such as application compatibility, hardware requirements, implementation costs and end-of-support timelines, rather than incremental security or power management improvements.
Organizations already have robust security measures in place, and improvements in battery life are more relevant to mobile users than to desktop-centric environments, he said. Most enterprises are taking a measured approach to adoption, aiming to hold off on upgrades until closer to the 2025 end-of-support date to allow for proper testing, budgeting and infrastructure planning.
Conference
Oct
20
Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo Orlando 2025
Register
Conference
Oct
27
Gartner HR Symposium/Xpo Orlando 2025
Register
Related Article: The Workplace From Meta Clock Is Ticking. Factors to Consider Before Migration
The Bright Side to a Windows 11 Upgrade
With Windows 10 support ending in October 2025, the transition to Windows 11 is a critical opportunity to embrace modern technology, Zibtek founder Cache Merrill told Reworked. He acknowledged the pressure to migrate, but also noted the potential advantages, including:
- AI-Driven Productivity: Features like Microsoft Copilot+ streamline workflows, automate tasks and provide real-time insights.
- Enhanced Security: Tools like TPM 2.0, Windows Hello and advanced malware defenses protect against emerging threats.
- Improved Compatibility: Early upgrades prevent hardware-software issues when support for Windows 10 ends.
“Microsoft’s focus on AI integration makes Windows 11 a transformative tool, but convincing the 60% of users still on Windows 10 remains a challenge. Enterprises are expected to adopt faster due to compliance and IT needs, while consumers may hesitate without clear value propositions,” he said. For enterprises, the financial implications of exceeding Windows 10’s end-of-life (EOL) deadline in 2025 will be a stronger motivator than AI functionality.
“Businesses will aim for the bare minimum upgrade to avoid costly custom support fees before exploring how to operationalize AI or new hardware capabilities,” Nexthink's Flower concluded. Additionally, many organizations remain cautious about embedding AI into hardware, seeing it as a step too far for now.
DeFoe echoed the sentiment, saying investments in cloud-based machine learning (ML) solutions are preferred over AI-enabled client devices.
“Cloud hyperscalers offer the most economical way to train and fine-tune ML models, allowing users to scale usage as needed without the underutilization of expensive local devices,” DeFoe explained. "AI-enabled PCs might appeal to enterprise IT teams, but they won’t necessarily prioritize Windows 11 PCs as the solution."