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Windows 10 Gets an Expiration Date
Windows 11 is coming, and Microsoft is quietly signaling that you should get ready
As Microsoft plans to usher in the next major edition of Windows (ostensibly Windows 11), it’s also quietly preparing to show the door to its 6-year-old Windows 10 operating system.
That news, which Microsoft certainly didn’t make news (no press release that I could find), was discovered by Windows platform watchers like Paul Thurrott on a Windows Lifecycle page that now lists October 14, 2025, as the Windows 10 “Retirement Date.” That’s roughly 10 years since the launch of the Windows edition that revitalized the brand after the magnificent stumble of Windows 8.
Out of context, this is shocking news. A platform used by over 1.3 billion people is within four years of being sunset. The reality, though, is that it’s roughly average on the Windows lifespan spectrum. Looking back at Windows greatest (and not so great) hits, you can see a pattern:
Windows 3.1
- Launched: 1992
- Ended mainstream support: 2001
- Lifespan: 9 years
Windows 95
- Launched: 1995
- Ended mainstream support: 2000
- Lifespan: 5 years
