Still on Windows 10? How to Move Forward

When Microsoft ended support for Windows 10 in October 2025, the message was clear: no more security updates, no more feature enhancements, and no more safety net.

Yet across Australia, countless organisations are still running it.

It’s not because IT teams don’t understand the risk. They do. It’s because three practical barriers keep getting in the way. Here’s what they are, and how we’ve helped our clients move past them.

1. Hardware Incompatibility

Windows 11’s hardware requirements caught many organisations off guard. TPM 2.0, Secure Boot, and specific CPU generations meant large portions of perfectly functional fleets suddenly didn’t qualify.

Replacing hundreds or thousands of endpoints isn’t just expensive. It's also disruptive to business operations.

How we’ve helped:

We’ve worked with clients to take a strategic, staged approach. That often means:

• Extending existing device life by moving workloads to Windows 365 or Azure Virtual Desktop,
• Combining hardware refresh programs with natural replacement cycles, and
• Using Extended Security Updates as a short-term safety bridge rather than a permanent fix.

This keeps environments secure and compliant while spreading capital costs over multiple budget years.

2. Application and Integration Barriers

Some critical business applications, custom scripts, or integrations simply don’t behave the same way on Windows 11 or they aren’t officially supported. This uncertainty has frozen many upgrades in place.

How we’ve helped:

We run application readiness assessments to identify which apps need remediation, replacement, or just proper testing.

In one case, a customer delayed rollout because a key vendor hadn’t certified their software. We created a controlled test environment that proved it worked under Windows 11, unlocking the deployment plan within weeks.

Taking a structured approach removes uncertainty and turns “we can’t upgrade yet” into “we know exactly what’s needed.”

3. Budget Pressure and Change Fatigue

After years of digital transformation, cybersecurity programs, and cloud migrations, many organisations simply don’t have the budget or appetite for another major upgrade. The cost of delay grows every month, not just in security exposure, but in lost access to modern security features and management tools.

How we’ve helped:

We’ve built cost and risk models that show executives the financial impact of staying put versus modernising.

We then design phased adoption roadmaps that align with budget cycles tackling high-risk areas first while avoiding unnecessary disruption.

This approach helps organisations regain control, rather than reacting to vendor deadlines.

The Real Risk: Falling Behind

Staying on Windows 10 isn’t just a security issue, it’s a capability gap. Modern security controls, cloud integrations, and productivity tools increasingly assume a Windows 11 baseline. The longer organisations delay, the harder it becomes to catch up.

We’ve helped businesses treat this transition not as a forced upgrade, but as an opportunity to modernise how they manage endpoints, security, and operations.

Need Help Planning the Path Forward?

Whether it’s assessing compatibility, planning device refresh cycles, or designing a hybrid Windows 11 and cloud strategy. We can help.

If your organisation is still weighing its options post-Windows 10, let’s have a conversation about how to move forward without disrupting what’s already working.