It’s no secret that you should keep your operating system up to date. As part of a sound security strategy, running the newest version of your OS is the best way to stay ahead of known vulnerabilities and bugs. Microsoft has been moving closer to what some have called forced updates, with what they call “continuous innovation.” In this blog post, we’ll talk about what to expect when it comes to near-future Windows 10 and Windows 11 updates, and ask the question: are Microsoft forcing updates on users?
Start Saying “Goodbye” to Windows 10
We’re officially coming up on one year left of Windows 10 support. The old OS will be left out of new updates starting in October of 2025. This means that it’s a good time to start thinking about what needs to be updated and what those projects will entail.
I’ve put it this way-“what needs to be updated”-because the main reason that users across our client base would have to stay on Windows 10 past its end of support is that they are running a software solution (third-party application or program) that can’t be run on Windows 11. The typical reason for this is that another program besides Windows or Office is being used for a specific business function, but either that program hasn’t been updated in a while, the application has been replaced with a costly or dysfunctional cloud service, or the version that you need for your own business practices is an older version of the program.
With all the risks that come from outdated software, it’s important to have an idea of what your next application setup looks like. This is the domain of IT risk assessment more than it is SOPs. In other words, it’s important to understand when it’s time to update an older workflow with a newer process, software, or service, as opposed to not updating due to increased cost or necessary changes to your day-to-day procedures.
An unpatched Windows 10 machine (a little more than a year from now) will be much more susceptible to phishing attacks launched through email attachments, network device vulnerabilities, and other preventable attack vectors. Having increased risk of security events, privacy of your customers, or loss of proprietary data is probably not the right choice for your business. Instead, craft a proactive plan to implement software that will be more resilient to attacks through new updates with your IT partners. Think of it as one solid way to invest in future resilience against cybersecurity attacks.
Windows 11 Updates Old Versions to New Ones
Also coming in October is an update to Windows 11 that will help make sure nobody is running an outdated version of Windows 11. Along with new updates in July, Microsoft started signaling to users and IT professionals that older versions of Windows 11, from 2022, will need to update to the latest version of Windows:
While this sounds like it’s a big change, it’s really not. Starting with Windows 11, these version numbers are kind of like milestones that don’t necessarily mean that the operating system is going to feel new because of the update. The idea behind this is to help improve adoption of new versions of Windows by having more continuity between the versions. While some Windows machines will need updating, it will happen along with regular updates and shouldn’t introduce many compatibility issues with your existing apps.
Smaller Windows (Between Upgrades)
The length of time that a version is supported has been getting quite small as of late. The version that will be end of support is 22H2-the version of Windows from the “second half of 2022.” This shows that Microsoft’s support for each version of Windows 11 is two years. Microsoft’s goal with these more incremental updates is to make it less of a shock to be on the newer version of the operating system.
Most users won’t see much of a change at all, and past updates have made only minor changes to the operating system. There have been a few in the most recent version: have you tried to open WordPad recently? It doesn’t exist in version 23H2, the most current iteration of Windows 11.
It’s most likely that the workstations you use every day were already updated to 23H2 sometime last year. If you noticed in the screenshot above, the Enterprise and Education versions of Windows will be supported for longer. These licenses are typically used by larger organizations that have a longer update cycle than Microsoft’s releases, so a change to a new version requires more testing-especially in environments where applications are being developed, or custom applications are used by the company and need to be tested before rolling out new operating systems to all users.
Microsoft has been going a long way to assure corporate IT departments that they won’t just unilaterally push the updates. Devices that are managed through centralized management technologies like Intune won’t be subject to updates until companies that manage the systems push the policies to update it.
Are These Really Forced Updates?
A quick look around the Microsoft support forums and other platforms shows quite a lot of complaints about how noisy Windows 10 has been about updating. Running routine Windows Updates sometimes will inadvertently update a machine from Windows 10 to Windows 11, since they offer a free, in-place upgrade directly in Windows Update. There are ways to prevent the messages from popping up at all-by changing some registry keys related to the messages.
Ultimately, the official word from Microsoft is that there are no forced updates to Windows. However, this still means that users are responsible for keeping the operating system up-to-date to not end up running an unsupported, vulnerable version of Windows.
If you need help planning and assessing what it takes to stay ahead of costly extended support for Windows 10, or advice on moving on to newer versions of specialized software, reach out to us-your IT partner-to tackle the issues head-on and guide you expertly about the avoiding risks of running EOL software. We deliver bespoke solutions for businesses and their users to work on what’s important to your business without losing ground to the newest attacks and vulnerabilities on the web.
-Written by Derek Jeppsen on Behalf of Sean Goss and Crown Computers Team