Only ten months now before Microsoft turns off support for Windows 10.
MS has been hustling every user of Windows 10 (and earlier versions of Windows) to upgrade to Windows 11. I gather that the latest OS is awkward to use in some respects, and is not popular. But in any case, the new architecture that comes with Windows 11 means that older devices - and some bought only a couple of years ago - cannot run it. So 'upgrading' involves buying a new laptop or desktop device at considerable expense.
This, understandably, is unwelcome to a lot of people. There is resistance. In my own case, my present laptop - a Microsoft Surface Book that was posh and fairly cutting-edge in 2016 when I bought it, and is still working perfectly well - is stuck with Windows 10. I can't install Windows 11 on it. So what should I do?
In the immediate period, there's nothing I can do. The money I'd set aside for a replacement laptop sometime in early 2025 - £2,500 - has been swallowed up by dental treatment and some other necessary things. I can't conjure up further cash, because my savings accounts are depleted, and replenishment is slow while the monthly car repayments persist. I can't do it all. The car repayments end in October 2026. I need not wait until the hire-purchase balance reduces to absolutely nil. It'll be financially safe to buy a new laptop in mid-2026. I could treat myself to a shiny new Surface Book (or something of similar refinement) for my 74th birthday in July 2026.
But that's still a year and a half away. Will I be exposed to online security threats from October 2025 to July 2026? It's a concern.
MS have said that they will continue to support Windows 10 after October 2025 if a user pays for hitherto-free security updates. I should therefore be able to buy a year's cover. I don't know what the cost will actually be. If only £30, it's probably a no-brainer. But MS will have a gun at users' heads, and may feel that they can ask for £100, or even £150. If they do, I'll be wondering whether I can instead rely on my Android phone for all Internet access, and use the laptop offline-only.
But now a thought has occurred to me. Both phone and laptop are currently protected by my annual F-Secure antivirus and malware subscription. That would continue for at least the phone. So if, as now, I tethered the laptop to the phone, wouldn't I be safe, even without Windows 10 security updates? In other words, wouldn't the phone trap incoming viruses and malware, and not send them on to the laptop?
I have researched this a bit. I've read that, even without any special protection in place, viruses and malware designed to exploit vulnerabilities in Android will do nothing to a Windows device, as the OSs are so different. And that if the user has installed protective software (F-Secure in my case), then harmful code will be neutralised and expunged before it crosses over to another connected device. Is that really true? There are other points to make. I don't surf the web indiscriminately. I take care, and stick to 'proper' websites (F-Secure vets them for me; so does Google itself). Furthermore, I'm not on any kind of social media, which drastically reduces my risk of getting into difficulties. And most of the time, I use the laptop offline, predominately for photo-editing.
So to conclude, I think that after the plug is pulled on Windows 10 in October 2025 I will still be able to use my now-elderly laptop to safely access the Internet, providing I do it through the phone, and not directly. Just as if I were away on holiday.
Mind you, I will definitely look forward to having a modern laptop during 2026, simply to have more speed, and perhaps a larger screen. A faster machine will improve my photo-editing workflow, and greatly speed up my backups to external storage media. But I can wait for the right machine, at the right moment.
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