WINDOWS 10 IS RUNNING OUT OF UPDATES

Windows 10 is one of those topics where everyone has heard something, and very few people know where they actually stand. Is it dead? Is it fine? Do you really need a new computer, or is that just what the ads want you to think? We have written this guide to sort out what's true, what's changed, and what you, a citizen of our fine city of Christchurch need to do about it. 

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED?

Microsoft ended mainstream support for Windows 10 in October 2025. That didn't make anyone's computer stop working — Windows 10 machines carried on exactly as before. What it ended was the steady stream of security updates: the quiet monthly patches that fix the holes criminals use to get in.

Here's the part most people missed. Microsoft offered an "Extended Security Updates" lifeline — but you had to enrol in it. If you never did (and plenty of people never even saw the prompt), your computer has quietly gone without security patches for months already. It won't warn you. It just sits there, a little more exposed each month.

The good news: in mid-2026 Microsoft quietly extended that lifeline. Enrolled Windows 10 machines now get security updates until 12 October 2027 — and it's not too late to sign up.

HOW TO CHECK WHERE YOU STAND

Open Settings → Windows Update. What you see tells you which group you're in:

• "You're enrolled in Extended Security Updates" — relax. You're patched until October 2027.
• An invitation to enrol — do it (see below). It takes five minutes.
• A message that support has ended, and no updates arriving — your machine is currently unprotected. This is the one to act on this week, not "sometime".

While you're there, check you're on Windows 10 version 22H2 (Settings → System → About). Enrolment needs it.

ENROLLING IS FREE (REALLY)

Microsoft gives you three ways in, and all three get you exactly the same protection:

• Free, if you sign in with a Microsoft account and let it sync your PC settings
• 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points, if you've been collecting those
• A one-off payment of US$30, if you'd rather not do either

Most home users should just take the free option. One enrolment covers up to 10 devices on the same account, handy if the household has a few older machines.

You may have heard the updates were only for one year, and that the second year costs money. Half true. The first year of the lifeline did originally end in October 2026, but Microsoft has since extended it, and for home users the second year through to October 2027 is free. If you enrolled already, you don't need to do anything; your computer carries over automatically.

WHAT ABOUT BUSINESS COMPUTERS?

The free deal is for personal machines only. Computers joined to a company domain or managed through business tools don't qualify — businesses pay per device, and the price doubles every year (roughly US$61 for the first year, $122 for the second, $244 for the third). At those numbers, paying to keep an old Windows 10 fleet alive very quickly costs more than moving to Windows 11. If you run a Christchurch business still carrying Windows 10 machines, this is the year to plan the transition properly rather than pay Microsoft rent on borrowed time — that's a conversation we have with businesses every week.

SO DO YOU NEED A NEW COMPUTER?

Not necessarily, and be wary of anyone who leads with that answer. Here's how we'd match the fix to the machine:

• Your PC can run Windows 11 (roughly: made in the last 6–7 years, with a security chip called TPM 2.0) - the upgrade is free, and it's the proper long-term answer. Windows 10's clock now genuinely runs out in October 2027, and that date looks final.
• Your PC can't run Windows 11, but it's otherwise going strong - enrol in the free updates and you've bought yourself a year of breathing room to replace it on your terms, in a sale, rather than in a panic.
• Your PC is old, slow AND can't upgrade - the update deadline is the least of its problems, and putting money toward a new machine beats putting it toward propping up the old one.

WHAT NOT TO DO

Don't install "workarounds" from the internet that force Windows 11 onto unsupported hardware - you can end up with a machine that gets no updates at all, which defeats the whole purpose.

And a warning while we're here: deadlines like this bring out the scammers. Nobody legitimate will ring you about your computer being "out of support" - not Microsoft, not Spark, and not us. If someone calls out of the blue wanting remote access to fix your Windows, hang up.

One more thing: if you're doing internet banking on a machine that's stopped getting updates, fix that first. That's the combination the criminals are counting on.

WE CAN HELP TOO

If you're not sure which group you're in, bring the machine in — we'll tell you in a couple of minutes whether it's protected, whether it can take Windows 11, and honestly whether it's worth upgrading or replacing. We can do the enrolment or the Windows 11 upgrade for you, move everything across to a new machine if that's the right call, and we won't sell you a computer you don't need.

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Further reading - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/extended-security-updates