Windows 10 was to be the last version of Windows. However, it seems Microsoft intends to end support for the operating system in 2025.
That was confirmed via a Microsoft support document, which has listed Windows 10 Home and Pro versions with a retirement date of Oct. 14, 2025. The date makes perfectly sensible as Microsoft typically supports an OS version for ten years and Windows 10 was first launched on July 29, 2015.
Microsoft already made it clear big changes are being made to Windows OS with the announcement of a “What’s Next for Windows” event earlier this month. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also hinted at a major new version of Windows, so when this event happens on June 24, we could well see Windows 11 unveiled. It certainly won’t be Windows 10X as that got folded into Windows 10.
What is clear is that Microsoft would not drop the Windows name, which would allow the claim of Windows 10 being the last version of Windows to hold true. But, it could be that the numbering system is going to be dropped, with Microsoft moving to a naming convention much like Apple uses for macOS. For example, macOS 12 is also known as macOS Monterey. Whatever the case, it may not be long to find out exactly what comes next for Windows.
Windows 10 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system and is the successor to Windows 8.1, released nearly two years earlier and it was released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and widely released for the general public on July 29, 2015.
Windows 10 was made available for download via MSDN and Technet, as a free upgrade for retail copies of Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 users via the Windows Store, and to Windows 7 users via Windows Update. Windows 10 receives new builds on an ongoing basis, which are available at no additional cost to users, in addition to additional test builds of Windows 10 available to Windows Insiders. Devices in enterprise environments could receive these updates at a slower pace, or use long-term support milestones that only receive critical updates, such as security patches, over their ten-year lifespan of extended suppor.
