The countdown to Windows 10’s end of life on October 24, 2025, is slowly but surely ticking away. It’s important that your organization prepares in advance to ensure a smooth transition with minimal negative impact to your operations.
We recommend refreshing your devices and transitioning to the new Windows 11 operating system to ensure your organization can continue leveraging its technology for productivity and growth. Additionally, there may be concerns about the costs of sourcing new devices if your current ones are not Windows 11 compatible. Undertaking such an IT project without the expertise of IT consultants and procurement specialists can be overwhelming.
You might be tempted to think, “What’s the harm? Let’s just keep using our devices as long as possible!” Unfortunately, continuing with unsupported software poses significant risks. Below, we outline five potential severe consequences your organization may face if Windows 10’s end of support is ignored.
- Security vulnerabilities
As the gateway to your network and broader IT infrastructure, your devices play a crucial role in your business’s overall cybersecurity posture. Their operating system is essential to managing access to your resources, including your data, applications, and programs. It is also the main mechanism that enforces security controls and configures firewall settings. So, if your operating system isn’t operating to its full functionality, that will undermine your ability to protect sensitive business information.
If you continue using Windows 10 after its end-of-support date, the lack of security updates and patches will leave your OS with weaknesses that hackers can easily exploit. With cyberthreats constantly evolving, this will open your device and your entire infrastructure vulnerable to cyberattacks and other threats.
- Lack of technical support
Once the end-of-life date for Windows 10 passes, Microsoft will no longer provide official technical support to users who experience issues with the operating system. If your business doesn’t transition to Windows 11, that means your employees may struggle to resolve problems like software bugs, app incompatibility, connectivity struggles, and more. They will likely also struggle to efficiently access the products of third-party software and hardware vendors due to the compatibility and functionality issues that arise when these companies stop supporting their own products on Windows 10.
- System performance and reliability issues
Ultimately, the lack of security and technical support will affect your team’s ability to rely on a stable system for tackling everyday tasks. When an operating system stops receiving support and updates from the manufacturer to optimize the environment, it degrades system performance. That degradation leads to a significantly diminished user experience, thanks to slower processing speeds, more system crashes, and potential data loss.
Your team may also want to take advantage of innovative new software and hardware solutions to improve their workflow and output but will face barriers when these technologies and tools aren’t compatible with the old Windows 10.
The resulting frustration may seriously impact their morale, which not only affects efficiency in the short term but can also be expensive: research shows that disengaged employees will cost the global business community $8.8 trillion in lost productivity in 2023.
- Non-compliance with regulations
Depending on the nature of your business and specific sector, your organization may be subject to various regulations, from industry-specific legislation to broader government laws. Continuing with Windows 10 post-support might result in non-compliance with the rules governing your business.
This lapse also could weaken your cybersecurity posture, risking failure to meet essential data protection standards. Whether it’s the general mandate to safeguard information from unauthorized access or specific regulatory requirements to use supported and up-to-date software, non-compliance can have serious consequences, including legal and financial penalties.
- Missed Features and Enhancements
Delaying transitioning to Windows 11 will also prevent your business’s end users from harnessing the new features, upgrades and enhancements introduced to optimize the OS’s environment and experience. Microsoft is constantly upgrading the functionality and adding productivity tools and user interface improvements.
Here are just a few of the features included in Windows 11:
- AI-powered features in your device’s photo app
- A customizable Widgets Board for personalized interactions
- Improved Nearby Share for distributing content seamlessly to other devices
- Built-in Copilot capabilities for enhanced productivity.
By remaining on Windows 10, you won’t be able to leverage these ongoing innovations and improvements that can enhance user experience and productivity.
(And speaking of Copilot, you can learn four IT support strategies to adopt it effectively in this guide to integrating AI into your organization.)
Transition to Windows 11 with experts by your side
Once Windows 10 approaches its end-of-support date, the risks of using this outdated operating system will be significant: heightened vulnerability to cyberattacks, degraded performance, non-compliance issues, and more. Not upgrading to Windows 11 could lead to compromised data security and costly operational disruptions.
With PC Corp as your trusted IT provider, you can have an easier time navigating the transition.
We can support you with a proactive and well-planned approach to move to Windows 11, including procuring new devices and implementing new systems and OS into your existing ecosystem. Our managed IT services can also take care of the ongoing maintenance required to ensure continuous optimal performance.
Together, we will ensure that your OS upgrades seamlessly so you can focus on running your business uninterrupted. Connect with us today to start your transition from Windows 10 to Windows 11.
