Team Partners Telecommunications

Its time to upgrade to Windows 11

Posted on Oct 23, 2025  | Tags: security

“Alas, poor Windows 10, I knew it well” may not have the same familiar ring as its original, Shakespeare’s line about Yorrick, but it carries the same sentiment, it will be missed by those who knew it well…or not, by those to whom Windows remain things to look through. In case you don’t already know, but care, Windows 10 ceased to receive support from Microsoft on October 14^th 2025.

It originally went on sale in July 2015 and was still receiving updated releases until the end of September 2025, which says something about it, although whether good or bad is for you to decide. It became available in 110 languages and in case you’ve been searching back to remember Windows 9, it was short lived.

What defined Windows 10 is that unlike its predecessor, it was designed with desktops in mind, a change from 8, which itself had been a change from its predecessors. When 8 was issued the world appeared to be veering towards a tablet based future, 10 recognised that maybe it wasn’t. On the other hand the world was very ready for Xbox Live integration, which 10 included, as well as Microsoft Edge replacing Internet Explorer.

It was generally well received, although the media were unhappy about the way it collected data, had mandatory updates and flirted with ad-ware. It sold well, but not as well as Microsoft had hoped, with it taking two years longer than planned to get to the billion device benchmark. It passed Windows 7, previously the most successful operating system in January 2018.

Of course, for those in the know, Windows 10 has been old hat for years, having been supplanted by Windows 11 in October 2021. It hangs on though, it still being the second most used version of Windows with 43% of the total Window’s usage, 11 having only overtaken it to reach 53% of the share as recently as June 2025. For those of you who have remained faithful to 10, you can upgrade for free if you have an eligible device that meets the minimum hardware requirements, checking your PC's eligibility using the PC Health Check app or within Settings > Windows Update. All going well you can then upgrade through Windows Update or by downloading the Windows 11 installation files. Not surprisingly, Microsoft advises initiating the upgrade as soon as possible.