Time Gentlemen Please (for Windows 10)
12th August 2024
All good things must come to an end. In this case it is Windows 10 for whom Microsoft have called time. From October 2025, Microsoft will no longer issue any security patches for the Windows 10 operating system.
What does that really mean?
Security patches are the annoying things that Windows installs when it shuts down or starts up and gives you the screen saying “Windows is installing updates.” Great you might think. No more security updates = no more annoying delays in getting my day started or in being able to leave the office as the laptop will shut down.
Just one problem. Cast your mind back to 2017 and the Wannacry Ransomware attack. Amongst the 200,000 machines impacted globally were a number used in the NHS. The reason the ransomware was so successful was that aged operating systems were in use and others that were in use had not been patched to prevent security exploits like Wannacry taking advantage of flaws in the software. For a rather hefty read of the attack you can see the Audit Commission’s report – Investigation WannaCry cyber attack and the NHS (Summary) (nao.org.uk). The bit of most interest is their conclusion that:
All NHS organisations infected by WannaCry had unpatched or unsupported Windows operating systems so were susceptible to the ransomware. NHS Digital told us that the majority of NHS devices infected were unpatched.
So what’s on the To Do List?
- Identify the machines that are running Windows 10
- Run the Windows Health Check https://aka.ms/GetPCHealthCheckApp on each machine and see if it can be upgraded to Windows 10
- Do a backup of all your data
- Run the Windows 11 installer
- Enjoy another few years until you have to rinse and repeat
If your machine fails the PC Health Check then its time to get a new machine, which will come with Windows 11 already installed. We recommend Windows 11 Pro and 16gb of memory on any new machine with a solid state drive. Windows 12 will have more memory requirements so ensuring you add that extra memory now will help to extend the life of any new devices you buy.
Oh .. and if that wasn’t enough to contend with, Office 2016 and 2019 also are end of life on the same day!
If you would like us to identify which of your machines are compatible with Windows 11 or to help with the upgrade process get in touch with us today. To deal with the Office software issue, we recommend you use one of the Microsoft 365 licenses which always ensures you have the latest version of Office and can backup your Documents, Desktop and Pictures to Onedrive automatically for you.