Enterprises Sticking With Windows 10 Could Shell Out Billions For Continued Support

Free support is ending for many editions of Windows 10 on October 14, and enterprises unable to make the jump are on the hook for billions to keep the fixes flowing.

IT workplace management outfit Nexthink has estimated that the cost of sticking with Windows 10 could be in the order of $7.3 billion in the first twelve months for customer wanting extended security updates, based on some back-of-the-envelope calculations.

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There are several caveats in Nexthink's calculations – not least because there are no official figures from Microsoft – but the amounts involved are likely to be substantial.

First, there is the number of commercial devices out there. In June, Microsoft said there were "over 1.4 billion monthly active devices" running Windows. According to Nexthink's analysis of customer endpoints, 30 percent are in use by commercial or public sector organizations.

So there are 420 million enterprise Windows devices, according to Nexthink.

But how many are running Windows 10? Again, Microsoft doesn't provide telemetry, but going by Statcounter's market share figures, Windows 10 accounted for between 43 and 45 percent of devices. Nexthink estimates that the number of enterprise devices still running Windows 10 is approximately 181 million.

Assuming that trends continue (Nexthink reckons there has been a 33 percent decrease in Windows 10 devices between May 19 and August 1), then by the time support ends, there'll be around 121 million Windows 10 PCs running in enterprises worldwide.

If each device receives a year of Extended Security Updates at $61 per device, the collective bill would be more than $7.3 billion.

"Moving from one operating system to another shouldn't feel like a disruption. It should be an opportunity to improve how employees work every day," said Tim Flower, Digital Employee Experience (DEX) Strategist at Nexthink.

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Which brings up Nexthink's second finding – Windows 11 is less stable than Windows 10. According to the company's analysis of customer devices, Windows 11 accounts for more system crashes (1.2 percent versus 0.6 percent) and hard resets (9.9 percent versus 8.5 percent) than Windows 10.

The company points to driver issues and poorly planned migrations rather than Microsoft's quality control as the cause. Flower generously said: "Every migration comes with teething problems, and what we're seeing with Windows 11 is no different.

"These issues aren't necessarily due to Windows itself, but are often linked to the underlying hardware, drivers, or the way systems are deployed.

"Too often, OS projects are treated as compliance exercises. Instead, they should be planned around the experience, ensuring devices are capable, performance issues are resolved, and employees notice a genuine improvement after the upgrade.

"With millions of OS migrations still on the horizon in the coming weeks, the priority is not just to move quickly, but to do it in a way that leaves people better off." ®