One in six Home windows PCs nonetheless runs Home windows 10, and the vulnerabilities are piling up

Going through the Flaw: Many organizations have already migrated to Home windows 11, however just a few diehards are refusing to go away Home windows 10 behind. In reality, thousands and thousands of computer systems are nonetheless working the growing older, albeit completely practical, working system, and based on one market evaluation, that would quickly flip right into a safety catastrophe.

Asset administration firm Lansweeper not too long ago sounded the alarm on Home windows 10, noting that numerous organizations nonetheless have not upgraded to Home windows 11. A good portion of PCs, or roughly 17% of all Home windows consumer gadgets, per Lansweeper’s analysis, are nonetheless working Home windows 10. Put merely, about one in six machines out there’s working the older OS, and that is a rising safety threat for the entire trade.

Home windows 11 has climbed to 78% of Home windows gadgets, a pattern additionally mirrored by third-party trackers: StatCounter had Home windows 11 above 70% of desktop share as of February 2026. What’s left behind is a cussed holdout base, hardcore lovers and on a regular basis customers alike, who both cannot or will not transfer to the newer OS.

Microsoft ended official help for Home windows 10 in October 2025, however its Prolonged Safety Updates program will preserve eligible gadgets patched by way of October 2027.

That protection is not free for most individuals, although: EEA customers get a no-cost choice solely till October 2026, whereas everybody else has to pay to remain protected. Lansweeper’s information reveals how a lot is driving on that call. A typical Home windows 10 machine carries a median of 1,903 lively safety vulnerabilities, nearly 3 times the 652 CVE-tracked flaws discovered on the typical Home windows 11 machine.

The exploitability of these flaws is arguably the larger challenge. Based on the analysis, 66% of Home windows 10 vulnerabilities are rated “excessive” or “essential,” they usually’re extra prone to be exploited within the wild than their Home windows 11 counterparts.

Microsoft routinely patches a whole bunch of bugs by way of its month-to-month Patch Tuesday updates, however Lansweeper warns that fixes rolled out for Home windows 11 can find yourself flagging points that stay broad open on Home windows 10.

By enterprise measurement, small and medium corporations are the most important holdouts, with 21.4% of their Home windows gadgets nonetheless on Home windows 10, in comparison with 16.6% at bigger enterprises. By trade, the laggards are those constructed round long-lived, licensed {hardware}: healthcare and prescribed drugs lead at 23%, adopted by shopper and retail at 22%, and manufacturing at 18%.

Lansweeper is urging Home windows 10 holdouts to enroll in Microsoft’s Prolonged Safety Updates (ESU) program to restrict the danger within the meantime. Long run, although, the corporate says organizations want to determine why they’re nonetheless on Home windows 10 in 2026 – and easily substitute the growing older programs with newer machines. Which is less complicated stated than accomplished, contemplating the dire situations (e.g. costly) the {hardware} market is in proper now.