Windows 10 users after 14 October 2025

[CXRAndy]

The work arounds are all over YouTube. Take your pick.

I'm going to try the update as the only X in my system requirements is unsupported cpu

 

[icowden]

It is pretty alarming in this aspect of the relatively low and slow uptake in W11 upgrades, since we are over 3 years into the W11 life cycle and still it only accounts for 36% of Windows users up from only 28% January 2024. W10 is sitting above 60% down from only 66% last January.

Which suggests that the majority of users don't have the TPM. I'm not sure it's alarming though. Windows XP was the OS of choice for many many years. It was introduced in 2001, then Vista arrived - which nobody liked. Finally in 2009 Windows 7 came out. Eventually everyone moved over onto Windows 7. by around 2012.

Windows 8 came out in 2012. Nobody used it. Windows 8.1 came out in 2013 - most people still stuck with Windows 7. Finally in 2015 Windows 10 came out and by 2020 most people were happily on Windows 10.

Then Windows 11 came out and it was supposed to be different. It was a simple direct upgrade from Windows 10. The problem is/was that Microsoft tried to force everyone to upgrade their hardware. You had to have a TPM chip. New machines made in / after 2015 should have one, but it needs to be enabled in the BIOS, which is starting to get to where a lot of people feel uncomfortable. Thus people stick with Windows 10.

 

[HMS_Dave]

Which suggests that the majority of users don't have the TPM. I'm not sure it's alarming though. Windows XP was the OS of choice for many many years. It was introduced in 2001, then Vista arrived - which nobody liked. Finally in 2009 Windows 7 came out. Eventually everyone moved over onto Windows 7. by around 2012.

Windows 8 came out in 2012. Nobody used it. Windows 8.1 came out in 2013 - most people still stuck with Windows 7. Finally in 2015 Windows 10 came out and by 2020 most people were happily on Windows 10.

Then Windows 11 came out and it was supposed to be different. It was a simple direct upgrade from Windows 10. The problem is/was that Microsoft tried to force everyone to upgrade their hardware. You had to have a TPM chip. New machines made in / after 2015 should have one, but it needs to be enabled in the BIOS, which is starting to get to where a lot of people feel uncomfortable. Thus people stick with Windows 10.

TPM has been a thing for years. TPM 2.0 is the later version which is required, but even that was shipped on computers from 2015. My old HP z620 from 2012 has TPM but 1.2. What you will more likely find is people don't have a supported CPU which in some cases are pretty aggressive requirements as in 2021 when W11 was released some CPUs weren't supported that were just 2 years old at that point.

It is alarming in the sense that we live in more dangerous times for Internet and computer security than even 2010, billions more people are in the net especially in developing countries, the geopolitical situation is more unstable and botnet attacks are on rife with the high level of computing power available at affordable prices. Without security patches, you are really risking it and I personally fear it people will wing it. The difference in the examples you list is the support. At one point Microsoft was supporting XP, Vista, 7, 8 and then 10. With the low adoption of W11 with W10 EOL in 8 months the situation is rather different and hardware requirements were no were near as aggressive then.

 

[wiggydiggy]

 

[Dadam]

Still can't count. Missed Vista and 8.1!

 

[Paul_Smith SRCC]

Reference W11 update from W10 on non compatible hardware I did actually use the workaround on one of my laptops to get around the TPM issue, I managed to get it to install W11 OK and it worked perfectly for a few months, but I then just got repeated errors during updates, I let it slide for a few weeks hoping a later update would fix it which, 'waiting for Microsoft to correct' was one common peace of advice I found when I googled the error code, in addition I tried the normal troubleshooting repairs but nothing worked; after a few weeks when 'time' didn't seem to rectify the issue I reverted to W10.

I am still running W10 on that laptop while I use up my 'iTunes' credit and then I will do a full install of Linux Zorin Core 17.2; the OS that I have been using on an old low specification 4gb laptop, it's what I am writing this reply on; the more familiar it becomes the less I miss Microsoft Windows.

 

[Dadam]

Reference W11 update from W10 on non compatible hardware I did actually use the workaround on one of my laptops to get around the TPM issue, I managed to get it to install W11 OK and worked perfectly for a few months, but I then just got repeated errors during updates, I let it slide for a few weeks hoping a later update would fix it which, 'waiting for Microsoft to correct' was one common peace of advice I found when I googled the error code, I gave up after a few weeks when 'time' didn't seem to rectify the issue and I reverted to W10.

I am still running W10 on that laptop while I use up my 'iTunes' credit and then I will do a full install of Linux Zorin Core 17.2; the OS that I have been using on an old low specification 4gb laptop, it's what I am writing this reply on; the more familiar it becomes the less I miss Microsoft Windows.

Might be worth trying to get iTunes running on Wine the windows emulator* for Linux.
*Yes I know it isn't technically an emulator it's a compatibility layer... but nobody cares.

Failing that you should be able to install Windows 10 in a virtual machine on Linux. VirtualBox is a well-regarded and free virtualisation program.

 

[HMS_Dave]

iTunes on Linux is a mixed bag at best, but a likely non-started in reality.

The only success anybody seems to have is using older versions of it.

So, if iTunes is something that you want to keep it might be best to use a VM as mentioned.

There is a guide here, for Ubuntu which should be just as compatible on Zorin as that is Ubuntu based that has been got working using Bottles (which is simply a runner for WINE) and an older version of iTunes, but success seems a bit of a coin toss. I'd be tempted to give it a go if i used the service.

 

[DRM]

I'm currently running Ubuntu on an Elderly Think Pad, the iTunes app works perfectly

 

[HMS_Dave]

I'm currently running Ubuntu on an Elderly Think Pad, the iTunes app works perfectly

What version of iTunes are you running? Did you install through Bottles or similar?

 

[Paul_Smith SRCC]

iTunes on Linux is a mixed bag at best, but a likely non-started in reality.....There is a guide here, for Ubuntu which should be just as compatible on Zorin as that is Ubuntu based that has been got working using Bottles (which is simply a runner for WINE)...

I concur, I've never managed to get iTunes to work properly with either 'Wine' or 'Bottles'.

It's definitely not a deal breaker for me though, yes I still like to buy MP3 music and add them to a USB to play in my car and to add to my phone, but moving forward I can buy MP3 music using Amazon, so once I have used my iTunes credit I have that alternative when I then do a full Linux install on that laptop. In reality it's the only app I personally use that I couldn't add and use reliably with Linux, all the others I can.

Literally the only thing I don't like quite as much as W10 is the Solitaire games that I could find on Linux, none are quite as good as good as 'simple solitaire' from Microsoft; I use www.solitairebliss.com online as a very slight compromise. I am being pedantic of course just to illustrate just how pleased I am that I have found a viable alternative to W10 with Zorin Core 17.2

 

[DRM]

What version of iTunes are you running? Did you install through Bottles or similar?

On Ubuntu it's in the App Center, so just a straightforward install.

 

[HMS_Dave]

On Ubuntu it's in the App Center, so just a straightforward install.

Ahh so it is probably a snap package. Fair enough, I dont use snaps but if it works that's a simple solution.

 

[Aescott]

Thank you. It's only Word and Excel I want, not Windows itself. I'm aware I may be better of switching to Google Docs and Sheets. After three decades on MS I'm reluctant to change though I guess it won't be too onerous.

Look at LibreOffice as well. It can read and create files in Office formats and is installed on your PC rather than running on the web like Sheets.

 

[Paul_Smith SRCC]

For years I have used 'Microsoft Word' at work and 'Libre Office' at home and work, providing you 'save' anything you have worked on when using the latter in a Microsoft prompted format it will normally open as edited when later opened in Microsoft and vice versa. I highlighted normally as I have found there are a few exceptions where it doesn't, a word document may have a few boxes with images for example, but spreadsheets and basic Word documents it's been fine to the extent that it's so similar in every way, layout and navigation including, that for me it's a seamless transition between both.

I also have a Hotmail/Outlook email account which gives me 'Word online' that I can save to my c drive if needed, as well as 'Google Docs', although I personally prefer 'Word online' if I am using any of the online versions.