In 2025, Microsoft will end support for Windows 10. Hundreds of millions of computers that are not compatible with Windows 11 would then be affected. A study assumes that it is an ecological catastrophe. Is it really like that?
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Microsoft has planned to end support for Windows 10 in 2025. However, many computers are not compatible with Windows 11 and this means that within two years hundreds of millions of PCs will no longer be able to benefit from update security and will become vulnerable at best, dangerous or unusable at worst.
A study by the Canalys Institute assumes that hundreds of millions of PCs will lead to a real environmental catastrophe because they will de facto be turned into so much electronic waste. One in three devices is expected to be replaced by an upgrade to Windows 11 in the next two years, and ultimately a fifth of PCs will become a gigantic pile of e-waste, equivalent to 240 million computers. If these were laptops stacked together, that would correspond to a stack of 600 kilometers. If we don’t switch to Linux-based solutions, these perfectly functioning PCs would quickly end their career in the landfill.
A questionable forecast
This forecast remains questionable for several reasons. First, just like with Windows 7 and 8, Microsoft will keep Windows 10 security updates until October 2028, but you’ll have to pay for them. However, it should be remembered that after the massive cyberattack on Notpetya in 2017, the company provided free security updates to prevent a disaster of this kind.
Another nuance: During updates, Microsoft regularly makes Windows 11 compatible with processors that were previously incompatible. In the last major update 22H2 Moment 3 of Windows 11, numerous references from Intel, AMD and Qualcomm were integrated that were previously not compatible. Finally, it remains technically possible to install Windows 11 on a PC whose processor is not listed in the compatibility list. This requires some manipulation, even if the security and reliability of the system is not guaranteed.