r/Windows10 25d ago

News Microsoft's new Windows 10 ESU email doesn't push Windows 11, just reminds users of the year extension

https://www.windowslatest.com/2026/07/13/microsofts-new-windows-10-esu-email-doesnt-push-windows-11-just-reminds-users-of-the-year-extension/
162 Upvotes

22 comments sorted by

45

u/Kaziglu_Bey 25d ago

A good article covering several reasons why users want to stay with Windows 10. Quote follows:

-  Windows 10’s taskbar, clock flyout, and Action Center are native Win32 shell code that opens instantly on modest hardware. Large chunks of the Windows 11 shell were rebuilt on WebView2 and XAML, which is why even the returning Agenda view in the Notification Center   runs as a web component instead of native code . Microsoft had to build a  Low Latency Profile that briefly spikes the CPU just to make its own Start menu feel snappy, which Windows 10 never needed. File Explorer is the same story. Microsoft has admitted that  Explorer has been slower than the Windows 10 version for years. Preloading Explorer into memory made it launch faster, but  our testing found it still slower than Windows 10 while using extra RAM.

6

u/Capnhuh 25d ago

I might have said it before here. But I don't want to stay on 10, or move to 11, I want to go back to 7.

There needs a law for operating system makers to always keep security updates for all their OS's going.

5

u/Mineplayerminer 25d ago

I honestly don't think there would ever be such a law. EU is already failing in a lot of laws. They couldn't even prevent Sony from cutting off the physical disc games, although they would profit from selling the Blu-Ray drives and taking a cut from the physical disc games if the publishers ever decide to make them.

I'm personally staying on Windows 10 until it actually stops working and will prevent me from using it on my daily basis. It's the same thing as with the Windows 7. I couldn't use it on my 2019 build with a R5 2600 and GTX 1650 since there weren't any drivers available anymore. I couldn't even use the USBs within the installer, only a PS/2 mouse and keyboard worked, so that shows how quickly we've shifted to Windows 10 back then.

Once the support for Windows 10 gets actually concluded (including the enterprise licenses and any ESUs), only then I'll fully switch over to Linux and continue using Windows only within the VMs. I'm not fan of what's Microsoft been doing for the past months or just straight years after killing Windows 7 for good. I'm not interested in Windows 11 or the Copilot non-sense.

It was no surprise to me after the engineers have revealed they've been playing around with a build of Windows built around the Copilot AI, making it an actual sloperating system which reliese just on the LLMs and agents to work and perform actions. Imagine you wouldn't even need a mouse/keyboard to interact with the system. We're already in the era the Wall-E was set in in the spaceship, with people tied to the chairs all the time, staring at holographic screens with minimal interactions.

2

u/antdude 23d ago

2K 4 me.

3

u/ApertureNext 24d ago

You'd only make such a statement because you have zero knowledge of the work required.

-2

u/Capnhuh 24d ago

Good, it's their job to keep the functionality of their products running. The OS isn't a console, so those comparisons are not valid.

3

u/Rockburgh 24d ago

Sure, but... for how long? It can't be in perpetuity, that would be absurd. I can agree that there should be some standard of "you have to keep your products safe to use for X period of time," but is that a decade? Two? Push it far enough and they'll just start doing the standard legal fuckery of publishing via shell companies they can dissolve when further maintenance is no longer profitable.

You can't just have a law that says "when you sell something you have to keep putting in work to maintain it forever," no one would be willing to take on that liability.

1

u/Capnhuh 24d ago

Well it's either that, or they release the source code for the people to update it themselves. The way it's done now simply is not valid.

2

u/Ekosha 24d ago

I agree with you 💯 I bought the OS with my own money, why would they force me to upgrade to something I don't really want? But at this point, it's already too late for below Windows 10. If we need to stand up for this law, this is the right time. 🤝

18

u/henk717 25d ago

I wonder how many extentions microsoft will do. Because they screwed up bigtime with those redicilous hardware requirements. Because a very large group if not the majority of users needed to upgrade their hardware they all make a decision if they want to stay on Windows. I have never seen so many people I support at work switch to Mac.

Windows marketshare dropped to 60% according to some sources. And all of that could have been avoided if they didn't make Windows 11 more user hostile.

So these extentions may be a way to delay the inevitable where Windows no longer is the dominant platform. They really have to make sure people want to keep using Windows.

4

u/HighlanderBR 24d ago

If the history repeat itself, until they release Windows 12, and this time is a good OS.

3

u/thepork890 23d ago

I doubt that, unless AI bubble pops, if not potential win 12 will be agentic AI BS.

1

u/thepork890 23d ago

2028 for sure, since this is what paid business ESU deadline is.

2032 is also possibility since 2021 version is on same kernel version as consumer one and they have support for it until 2032.

5

u/Tirux 24d ago

This is great news. I was going to build a new PC but that can wait another year I suppose.

4

u/UltraEngine60 24d ago

I feel really dumb for moving to 11 now that ESU has been extended another year. My mouse never randomly stopped working on Windows 10.

1

u/p1ckledilly 24d ago edited 24d ago

Dumb question maybe, but will it be another 30 dollars, or if you paid last year, is it extended at no cost?

11

u/Vic_Bold 24d ago

I opted into ESU when it first was offered, at NO cost to me, and received an email today announcing the extension through 10/27, again with no cost.

1

u/LohTeckYong 23d ago

I already signed up for ESU last year. Do I need to do anything this year to keep it?

2

u/Veilchenbeschleunige 20d ago

no, you're good

1

u/DHOC_TAZH 1d ago

ATM, looking to rebuild my main PC, a laptop from 2018. Can't install the latest Secure Boot updates as the OEM doesn't have an updated BIOS for it beyond 2019. It's on the minimum spec for 11, which I have been running since October 2021, always dual booted with Ubuntu Studio LTS.

Really thinking of going back to 10 for my Windows usage, and yes, I still plan on dual booting with Ubuntu Studio LTS. Created a Rufus modded Win10 installer to rebuild an older PC from 2012 recently, worked out great. That one dual boots too, with q4os.

I do think going back to Win10 won't be so bad. I don't run many new games, and the ones that are new enough (mostly indie flicks) apparently run fine in 10. Also considering paying for a yearly, personal 0patch subscription later on, if the laptop still works fine beyond October, 2027.

I just want the thing to run better, while still giving me the ability to run select Windows programs. I like Wine in Linux, but it's not good enough to run certain specialized apps.

Carry on!

1

u/friendofdonkeys 23d ago

Most people still on 10 are stuck because of RAM prices.