Microsoft abandons users to cybercrime in name of cybersecurity

In case you haven't heard, Microsoft is ending support for its Windows 10 Operating System. According to StatCounter, that is 40.84% of web users, as of the release of this article. When comparing that to the 49.05% of web users on Windows 11, it represents a large amount of users left in the dark.

What does this mean?

Windows 10 is reaching End of life (commonly referred to as EOL) as announced by Microsoft. It means those pesky Windows updates will stop, including those that ensure you are running a safe and secure environment. Additionally, it can be assumed by being dropped by Microsoft, that soon others will as well. That will make it ever increasingly difficult to find other software like popular browsers (Google Chrome), gaming software, (Steam), and others. None of this has been announced yet, but if you followed what happened when Windows XP and 7 died, you can expect a similar pattern.

The reasoning Microsoft makes is that Windows 11 is more modern and secure. While it may offer some newer software you may or may not like, the fact is they aren't giving you a choice on the matter. They have also raised the hardware requirements to include the TPM 2.0 security chip, which while arguable making your system more secure, it relegates any computer older than 4 years old to the junk pile. Not a great thing for a company's reputation (or the environment).

The main takeaway is if you value security on your machine and do regular tasks like online banking, it's time to move on. We will be continuing on this topic to evaluate what options users have and continue to report on the impact of this event.

Long live Windows 11..?