end-of-service Archives

Winsage

April 27, 2025

Windows 10 support ends soon, but shockingly, 35% of SMBs are either clueless or refusing to upgrade their systems

A recent survey by Canalys revealed that over a third (35%) of channel partners reported their small and medium-sized business (SMB) clients are either unaware of the upcoming end-of-service (EoS) deadline for Windows 10 or lack a plan to transition away from it. Additionally, 14% of respondents admitted they do not know that support for Windows 10 is ending on October 14, 2025. The market for business PCs is growing, with a 9.4% year-on-year increase in shipments, reaching 62.7 million units in Q1 2025. Experts warn that the lack of upgrade plans could lead to significant financial repercussions for SMBs, especially with rising tariffs and potential supply constraints. A structured approach for transitioning to Windows 11 is recommended, including assessing current hardware, evaluating application compatibility, developing a timeline for upgrades, budgeting for investments, training staff, and implementing endpoint security strategies.

Winsage

March 4, 2025

AMD RX 9070 requires UEFI — bad news for Windows 10 die-hards

The end of Windows 10 support is approaching in eight months, causing concern among PC gamers. AMD's new graphics cards, the Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT, require Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) instead of traditional BIOS. AMD confirmed that all graphics cards from the 9000 series will have "UEFI-only support." While many users have transitioned to UEFI, over 40 percent of Steam users still use Windows 10, which is compatible with older BIOS systems. AMD's announcement does not clarify the compatibility of the 9000-series cards with BIOS or motherboards with Compatibility Support Module (CSM). Gamers on Windows 10 may face increasing compatibility issues if they upgrade their hardware after the end-of-service date.

Winsage

November 27, 2024

Windows 10’s farewell tour set to drive laptop sales in 2025

The global laptop market is expected to grow by 4.9 percent in 2025, driven by commercial upgrade cycles and the end of life for Windows 10. TrendForce predicts a recovery in laptop shipments starting late 2024, with annual shipments reaching 174 million units in 2024, a 3.9 percent increase from the previous year. By 2025, shipments are forecasted to rise to 183 million units. Despite this growth, demand for AI-capable devices remains limited, with businesses hesitant to pay a premium for AI PCs, which currently have a price increase of 10-15 percent over standard models. AI-capable PCs accounted for 20 percent of shipments to distributors in Q3 2024. The laptop market is significantly influenced by US trade policies, with China producing approximately 89 percent of total laptop manufacturing capacity.

Winsage

November 16, 2024

Microsoft’s Update Mistake—New Warning For Millions Of Windows PC Owners

Microsoft has confirmed a one-year extension for Windows 10 support as the end-of-life approaches. Approximately 850 million PC users have yet to transition to Windows 11. Windows 11 users on version 23H2 received incorrect end-of-support warnings after installing Patch Tuesday KB5046633 on November 12. Microsoft clarified that support for Windows 11 23H2 will last until November 2025 for home users and November 2026 for enterprise users, and the alerts are due to a reporting error. A spokesperson stated the issue will be resolved server-side. Additionally, new notifications suggest that features may be installed automatically for devices nearing or at the end of support, raising concerns about potential forced upgrades from Windows 10 to Windows 11. Users are advised to disregard the erroneous alerts for now.