As of January 31, Microsoft will no longer sell downloadable licenses for Windows 10 on its website. Microsoft is urging anyone buying or building a new PC to install Windows 11 instead of Windows 10, despite the fact that Windows 10 will still receive security updates until at least October 2025.
It’s likely that other retail sites will continue to sell Windows 10 for a short time, but even if all Windows 10 sales end at the end of the month, people who really want it can still get it.
Those who own older PCs running Windows 7 or Windows 8 should be able to install and run Windows 10 at no additional charge if they wish to upgrade – and you should, since both operating systems received their final security updates earlier this month. This is an artifact of the years-old Windows 10 upgrade offer. Microsoft discontinued offering a free upgrade in 2016, but the company did not take any steps to stop the upgrades from working.
For people buying new PCs who simply don’t want to use Windows 11, Windows 10 and Windows 11 have (so far) used interchangeable product keys; I have been able to install and activate Windows 10 on systems shipped with Windows 11 without any problems. Windows 11 Pro licenses shipped with OEM PCs qualify for downgrade rights (PDF), but downgrading Windows 11 Home should work in most cases.
Despite the lack of major new features in the 22H2 update, Microsoft is still releasing feature updates for Windows 10. In recent years, Microsoft has concentrated much of its development efforts on Windows 11, which is updated several times a year with new app updates, user interface refinements, and other improvements.
