Product Support for Older Windows PCs Will End Soon. Is My Machine at Risk?

For context, Microsoft ended Windows 8.1 support Jan. 10, 2023, and Windows 7 updates Jan. 14, 2020. Those operating systems first appeared in 2013 and 2009, respectively.

As of April, more than 2 in 5 Windows PCs in the U.S. were still running Windows 10, and 1.5 percent are using the obsolete Windows 7, according to StatCounter Global Stats. Worldwide, Windows 10 machines are more than half the number of Windows PCs.

Rival Apple has been delivering free updates annually of its MacOS operating system for Mac computers. The company typically supports such releases with security patches for around three years.

Getting back to your specific situation, Marcy, I appreciate your preference for a desktop computer and reluctance to rely on a Windows 11 laptop. But you’ll find yourself in a pickle with a desktop that lacks the processing muscle to handle Windows 11.

You’re left with four options:

1. Continue to use your current desktop after the security updates end, which has risks.

2. Pay $30 for an extra year of critical and important updates once Windows 10 support ceases. Remember to install the updates as you’re notified of them.

3. Use your Windows 11 laptop instead, but if possible, have a tech-savvy friend or relative hook up the monitor from your existing desktop computer to the laptop. That could work if you have a flat-screen monitor shaped like your new TV that phased out older, bulkier models, and it gives you two screens, the small one from the laptop and the big one that I suspect you really like.

It involves figuring out what type of cable the desktop screen needs to connect to your laptop — and maybe an adapter if you can’t find a cable with compatible connectors on both ends. You and your assistant also will have to fuss around with the display settings, so you won’t have two screens with the same information on them unless you want that.

4. Spring for a replacement. You have the option of an all-in-one PC or a newer desktop computer that will also require buying a separate monitor, keyboard and mouse. Reusing your old monitor, keyboard and mouse may not be possible.

Take solace in the fact that desktop PCs generally afford you more bang for the buck than laptops.

If you’re lucky, you may be able to trade in your old computer to shave a few dollars off the price of a new machine. But given its age, don’t expect much, if anything.

When the old desktop reaches the end of its useful life, your best bet will be to back up the files you need, scrub your personal information from the hard drive and give it to a recycler.

Any of those options should give you a large display that’s easier on the eyes than your laptop, a boon to anyone whose vision might not be what it once was. But the least expensive alternatives won’t last as long as a new machine that can upgrade to Windows 12 in a few months.

Bonus tip: Smartphones don’t last forever, either

If you’re still using an aging smartphone, pay attention to when the device will no longer be able to handle the latest mobile operating system updates.

Google has stopped issuing security patches for Android 12, an operating system that debuted in October 2021. Meanwhile, the latest version, Android 15, requires a device with at least 32 gigabytes (GB) of storage, ruling out many older devices and budget phones.

Perhaps this is why long support guarantees have become a selling point, especially after the price of smartphones broke the $1,000 barrier in late 2017.

• Google is committing to seven years of software updates and bug fixes for its Pixel 8 and later Pixel models, dating to when the devices first became available in the Google Store in the U.S.
• Samsung is also promising seven years of security updates for certain Galaxy-branded Android phones.
• Apple typically has supported iPhones with updates for five years and often longer. Compatibility for the current flavor, iOS 18, goes back to 2018’s iPhone XS and XR models though not every feature advertised as part of fresh operating system software will work with older devices.