A fifth of PC devices still on Windows 10

Analysis of data collected by Lansweeper has found that almost 22% of devices are still running Windows 10, in spite of Microsoft officially ending support last October. The data, collected from millions of devices across tens of thousands of active Lansweeper customer sites, shows that Windows 11 now accounts for 78.8% of Windows devices.

Lansweeper reported that the majority of organisations still using Windows 10 were small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Last year, in a blog post looking at the end of support of Windows 10, Omdia analysts Greg Davis and Kieren Jessop said cost was the defining constraint for SMBs.

“Even moderate fleet refreshes often compete with other operating expenses, making purchase timing unpredictable,” they wrote in the blog post. “Manageability and security rank second, but are focused on simplicity and reliability, not enterprise-level IT control.”

According to Omdia, migration activity in SMBs will continue well into 2027. In both consumer and commercial segments, Omdia predicted that premium IT buyers will focus on buying PCs as they refresh devices for Windows 11.

Davis and Jessop noted that the shift to premium PCs costing $800 or more is driven by commercial buyers who increasingly prioritise security, manageability and device longevity over upfront cost.

Lansweeper reports that the highest concentration of Windows 10 devices is found in those industries that are built on long-lived, certified and physically embedded hardware where an operating system is integrated with a machine that cannot easily be upgraded. Its data shows that among the organisations that have Windows 10 still running, 23% are in healthcare and 18% are in manufacturing. Its data also shows that 23% of consumers have remained on Windows 10.

Esben Dochy, principal technical evangelist for SecOps at Lansweeper, said: “SMBs face unique challenges when it comes to migrating off Windows 10. Migration often requires new hardware, and without bulk purchasing power or dedicated IT staff, that cost falls harder on smaller organisations. SMBs also tend to face less compliance pressure and are less likely to carry insurance policies that require active lifecycle management, so there’s less external pressure forcing the issue.”

Looking at the challenges of the healthcare sector, he said the migration to Windows 11 is slowed down by long-lived, certified equipment, where the operating system is often tied to certified medical devices or systems. “Any OS change can trigger regulatory recertification, making updates slow and costly rather than a simple technical task.”

In retail, Dochy said that many devices are locked to specific OS versions for compliance or warranty reasons. “Changing the underlying OS isn’t always possible, and where it is, it can be costly, which is why a meaningful share of that hardware simply can’t be migrated without full replacement,” he added

Last year, when Windows 10 reached end of support, Microsoft took the decision to offer consumers free extended support until October 2027, if they update the operating system to at least Windows 10 22H2 and set up a Microsoft account with admin privileges.

Commercial organisations can also continue to receive support through Microsoft’s Extended Support programme, but for commercial users, the cost starts at $66 for the first year and doubles each subsequent year.