Windows 10 End of Support: What Fort Worth Businesses Should Do Before the ESU Clock Runs Out
If your business is still running Windows 10 on even a few machines, you are not alone, and you are also running out of runway. Microsoft ended support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025. Those computers still turn on, still open Outlook, still run your line of business software, and that is exactly what makes this easy to ignore. Nothing broke. But the security updates stopped, and every month that passes puts those machines further behind.
There has also been a lot of confusing news about extensions and paid update programs, and most of it was written for home users, not businesses. So if you saw a headline saying Windows 10 got extended and figured you were covered, this one is worth ten minutes.
Here is what we will cover: what end of support actually means, what the paid Extended Security Updates program costs a business and what it does not do, why you cannot just click upgrade on every machine, and how a Fort Worth business can plan the move without panic buying a pile of new computers in a single month.
What end of support actually means for Windows 10
The date already passed
Windows 10 reached end of support on October 14, 2025. Per Microsoft, that means no more feature updates, no more quality updates (the monthly fixes that include security patches), and no technical support for the operating system. The Windows 10 you are running today is frozen. It will keep working, but it will not get better, and it will not get patched when the next serious flaw is found.
This is the part that trips people up. A car with an expired registration still drives. An unpatched operating system still boots. The problem is not that the machine stops. The problem is that the world keeps moving and the machine does not. As of March 2026, StatCounter still measured Windows 10 at roughly a quarter of all Windows desktops worldwide, so a lot of businesses are sitting in exactly this spot.
Why an unpatched operating system is its own kind of risk
Most of the security work that actually prevents breaches is boring and ongoing: patching, updates, closing holes before someone walks through them. When an operating system stops receiving updates, that entire layer freezes in place. Attackers know the end of support dates as well as Microsoft does, and unsupported systems become a favorite target precisely because everyone knows the patches are never coming.
For a regulated business it goes further than risk. Running an unsupported operating system is the kind of finding that shows up in a security risk assessment and raises questions during a compliance review. If you handle protected health information, an unsupported OS on a machine that touches that data is a gap you will have to explain. We get into this more on our cybersecurity page, but the short version is simple: unsupported is not the same as broken, and it is not the same as safe.
The ESU bridge: what it is, what it costs, and what it does not do
Microsoft did not leave businesses with nothing. There is a paid program called Extended Security Updates, or ESU, that keeps critical and important security patches flowing to Windows 10 machines after the end of support date. Think of it as a bridge, not a destination.
How the commercial pricing actually works
For businesses buying through volume licensing, ESU is priced per device, per year, and the price doubles each year. Year one is $61 per device. Year two is $122 per device. Year three is $244 per device. Microsoft caps the program at three years, so the most you can buy is coverage through roughly October 2028.
Two details matter more than the headline numbers. First, the program is cumulative. If you skip year one and try to enroll in year two, you have to pay for year one as well, so a late start in year two runs $183 per device, not $122. Second, ESU buys you security patches and nothing else. No new features, no non-security fixes, and no general technical support for Windows 10 itself. To even qualify, machines need to be on Windows 10 version 22H2.
Do the math across a fleet and the point becomes obvious. Paying rising annual fees to keep old hardware on life support adds up fast, and at the end of it you still have old hardware. ESU exists to buy time for a planned migration, not to postpone the decision forever. If you want help sizing that trade-off across your whole environment, that is exactly what our endpoint management and managed IT work is built around.
Consumer versus commercial, because the headlines blurred them
Here is where the confusing news comes in. Microsoft also ran a separate, one-year ESU option aimed at home users, and the coverage and extensions reported for that consumer program are not the same as the commercial track a business buys through volume licensing. If you read that Windows 10 was "extended" and assumed your office was covered, check which program that headline was about. The business reality is the three-year, paid, doubling-price program described above. Knowing which lane you are in is the difference between a real plan and a false sense of security.
Why you cannot just click upgrade on every machine
The obvious answer to all of this is to move to Windows 11. Often that is the right call. But it is not always a free in-place upgrade, and that surprises people.
Windows 11 requires a hardware security chip called TPM 2.0, along with newer firmware settings. Machines built before roughly 2018 frequently do not have what Windows 11 requires, and no amount of clicking will change that. On those machines the upgrade is not an upgrade at all. It is a hardware replacement.
So a Windows 10 fleet usually splits into three piles once you actually look: machines that can move to Windows 11 today, machines that are too old and need to be replaced, and a few stubborn machines running one specific piece of software that has its own compatibility problem. Sorting your computers into those three piles is the real first step, and it is a planning exercise, not a technical one. This is squarely IT strategy work: knowing what you have, what it runs, and what it will cost to move it, before the calendar forces a rushed decision.
Not sure how many Windows 10 machines you actually have? IT Integrations helps Fort Worth businesses inventory their fleets, sort out what can move to Windows 11, and build a migration plan that fits a real budget. Call us at (817) 808-1816 or contact us for a free IT assessment.
What this actually looks like for a Fort Worth business
The Windows 10 problem does not hit every business the same way, and Fort Worth has a particular mix of industries that make it interesting.
Construction companies around Fort Worth and out toward Weatherford tend to run older desktops in the trailer and in the back office, machines that got bought once and never thought about again. Those are often exactly the pre-2018 boxes that cannot take Windows 11. Healthcare practices, which are the core of what we do, frequently have a specialized machine tied to imaging equipment or an older application, and those are the hardest to move. Professional services firms usually have newer laptops but a couple of forgotten desktops in a back office. Nonprofits and churches run on tight budgets and donated hardware, which means their fleets are the oldest of all.
The through line is that almost nobody has a clean, current list of which machines are on Windows 10 and which of those can move. For a business in Weatherford, Aledo, or Willow Park that leans on us, the first thing we do is build that list, because you cannot plan a migration you cannot see. Our Weatherford IT services and our healthcare work both start from the same place: an accurate inventory.
What we see when we audit a Windows 10 fleet
After 20-plus years of taking over IT for Fort Worth businesses, the Windows 10 handoff has a familiar shape. A few patterns show up almost every time we inventory a new client's environment.
The count is always higher than the owner thinks. Somebody remembers the ten machines up front and forgets the three in the warehouse, the one at the reception desk that only runs the scheduling app, and the laptop the bookkeeper takes home. Old machines hide.
There is almost always at least one machine nobody is allowed to touch. It runs a program the business depends on, the vendor stopped updating it years ago, and everyone is quietly afraid of what happens if it gets replaced. That machine needs a real plan, not a shrug.
And the line of business application is usually the actual blocker, not the operating system. The reason a business is still on Windows 10 is rarely Windows itself. It is the one program that has to keep running, and figuring out whether it works on Windows 11, needs a newer version, or needs to be replaced is where the real work lives. Sorting that out early is the difference between an orderly migration and a scramble in the fall.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it illegal or immediately dangerous to keep running Windows 10?
It is not illegal, and the machines will keep working. Windows 10 does not shut off or lock you out on the end of support date. The risk is slower and quieter than that. Without security updates, any new flaw found in Windows 10 stays open on your machines permanently, and attackers specifically look for unsupported systems because they know the patches are not coming. For a regulated business, running an unsupported operating system also becomes a documented gap in a security risk assessment. So it is less about a sudden disaster and more about accumulating risk you cannot patch away.
How much does Extended Security Updates really cost a small business?
Through volume licensing, ESU is $61 per device for the first year, $122 for the second, and $244 for the third, and the program is cumulative, so starting late means paying for the earlier years too. For a handful of machines that need a few extra months, that can be reasonable. Across a fleet of twenty or thirty computers held for the full three years, it adds up to real money spent on hardware you are going to replace anyway. The honest way to look at ESU is as a way to buy scheduling flexibility, not as a cheaper alternative to migrating.
How do I know if my computers qualify for Windows 11?
The main gate is a hardware security chip called TPM 2.0 and the firmware settings that go with it. Most business machines bought in 2018 or later can move to Windows 11, sometimes after a firmware setting is turned on. Machines older than that often cannot, no matter what you do. The only reliable way to know is to check each machine rather than guess, which is part of why an inventory is the first step. A mixed fleet almost always has some computers that upgrade cleanly and some that have to be replaced.
We are a healthcare practice. Does running Windows 10 affect HIPAA compliance?
It can. The HIPAA Security Rule expects reasonable and appropriate safeguards, and a supported, patched operating system is a basic one. An unsupported OS on a machine that stores or touches protected health information is the kind of finding that belongs in your risk analysis and that an auditor may ask about. It does not automatically mean you are out of compliance, but it does mean you need a documented plan to address it. We work with home health, hospice, and assisted living practices on exactly this kind of question. Our healthcare IT page has more on how we approach it.
How long do we realistically have?
More time than a panic headline suggests, and less than it feels like. Year one ESU coverage runs into late 2026, and a business can stretch paid coverage to roughly October 2028 if it is willing to pay the rising annual fee. But every month of waiting shrinks the runway and raises the cost, and hardware lead times and budget cycles mean the smart planning window is now, not next summer. The goal is to migrate on your own schedule, deliberately, rather than on the calendar's schedule, all at once.
Next Steps
Windows 10 reaching end of support is not an emergency, but it is a deadline, and deadlines reward the businesses that plan for them. The move is very doable. It starts with an honest inventory, a sort into upgrade, replace, and special case, and a budget spread across a few quarters instead of one painful month. Whether the right answer for you is a short ESU bridge, a full Windows 11 migration, or some of both, the decision should be made on purpose and with the numbers in front of you.
Ready to get your Windows 10 machines sorted before the deadline forces the issue? IT Integrations provides managed IT, endpoint management, and IT planning for Fort Worth businesses and the surrounding DFW metro. Call (817) 808-1816 or schedule a free IT consultation today.