Microsoft Pushes Windows 11 and AI PCs as Windows 10 Support Nears End

Microsoft declares 2025 "the year of the Windows 11 refresh" in latest bid to leave Windows 10 behind

Facepalm: Do you know what 2025 is? It's the "Year of the Windows 11 PC refresh," at least according to Microsoft. With Windows 10's end-of-support date around nine months away, the Redmond firm is going all out to try and convince people to move to Windows 11, preferably by purchasing a Copilot+ PC. Now that Microsoft's "year of the AI PC," - or 2024, as it's better known - is over, the company has declared that 2025 really should be the year that you upgrade your Windows 10 PC to a Windows 11-supporting computer. Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's Executive Vice President and consumer chief marketing officer, writes that one of the most important pieces of technology consumers will look to refresh in 2025 isn't the refrigerator, the television, or their mobile phone; it will be their Windows 10 PC. It's hard to imagine many people with 20-year-old refrigerators agreeing with him on that one. Mehdi makes some other bold statements, including "Windows 11 is available at a time when the world needs it most" and that "the forefront of AI innovation will be realized on Windows." Mehdi heavily pushes Microsoft's AI offerings in the lengthy post, mentioning Copilot no less than 14 times. Copilot has made several headlines at CES after it was revealed the AI assistant has been integrated into upcoming TVs from LG and Samsung. We'll have to wait and see just how useful this feature proves to be. Microsoft would obviously prefer those upgrading their PCs to opt for a Copilot+ one. Mehdi writes that these are up to five times faster than the most popular 5-year-old Windows PCs still in use today and top models are up to 58% faster than a MacBook Air with M3. Microsoft's campaign to push people onto Windows 11 hasn't been a rousing success. Most Windows 10 users hate the intrusive, full-screen pop-up nags, made worse by the most recent version that sometimes crashes when it opens. Windows 10 reaches its end-of-support date on October 14, meaning no more security updates after this point unless you pay for them. Nevertheless, Windows 10's global user share increased to 62.7% over the last two months as Windows 11's fell to 34.1% - though more Steam survey participants seem to prefer the newer OS. Citing IDC data, Mehdi writes that nearly 80% of businesses are planning to refresh their PC portfolio by the end of 2025, and 70% of consumers will refresh their PCs in the next two years. In related news, security experts warn that the end of support for Windows 10 could put most Windows devices at risk, not to mention the software and hardware compatibility issues.

Microsoft really wants you to update to Windows 11 in 2025

In a company blog post, Microsoft Executive Vice President and Consumer Chief Marketing Officer Yusuf Mehdi declared 2025, "the year of the Windows 11 PC refresh" In a bid to attract more users to Windows 11, Mehdi highlighted Microsoft's latest artificial intelligence improvements, including Copilot+ PCs and the new Copilot button that features on many of the latest models. "Building on Windows 11, our most secure version of Windows, we introduced a new category of PCs - the Copilot+ PC," Mehdi wrote. Figures quoted in a separate post by Microsoft claim the top Copilot+ PCs are up to 58% faster than the MacBook Air M3, with up to 47% faster AI performance than the same Apple laptop. Comparing its latest hardware to previous iterations, the company also stated that Copilot+ PCs are up to 5x faster than the most popular five-year-old Windows PCs still in use today. Following a decade of updates and support, Windows 10 end of service has been confirmed for October 14, 2025, but despite being more than three years old, Windows 11 is still struggling to gain the same level of traction. As 2024 drew to a close, Windows 10 maintained a nearly two-thirds market share, at 63%. The remaining third was given to Windows 11 (34%), with Windows 7 barely accounting for 2.5%. Microsoft is hopeful, though, with IDC research suggesting that 80% of businesses could be refreshing their PC portfolios by the end of 2025 and 70% of consumers doing so in the next two years. Canalys research is also positive, with AI PCs accounting for 20% of the market in Q3 2024. More than half (53%) were Windows PCs, such as Copilot+ models. However, the research firm polled channel partners in November 2024 and found that one in three (31%) do not plan to sell Copilot+ PCs in 2025. "We believe that Windows 11 is available at a time when the world needs it most - providing advanced AI capabilities and modern security benefits that customers expect in 2025 and beyond," Mehdi concluded.

Microsoft declares 2025 the year of Windows 11

Slumping market share, unwanted features ... no, it's the consumers who are wrong! CES Microsoft is continuing its push for users to adopt its new software paradigm, declaring 2025 "the year of the Windows 11 PC refresh" and reminding everyone that Windows 10's end-of-support date is just around the corner. That declaration was made in a blog post today by Microsoft EVP and consumer chief marketing officer Yusuf Mehdi ahead of CES 2025, which opens tomorrow in Las Vegas. Mehdi focused on hyping up all the new AI features that come with OS' updated hardware requirements, and how those specifications also enhance security. "We believe that Windows 11 is available at a time when the world needs it most - providing advanced AI capabilities and modern security benefits that customers expect in 2025 and beyond," Mehdi said. "As the world moves with us to Windows 11, we will welcome them with new features, enhanced security, improved functionality, and the familiar Windows experience they know and love." Not that users have much of a choice to move with Microsoft to a Windows 11 world - support for Windows 10 ends on October 14, 2025, after which date the then 10-year-old OS will stop receiving security or feature updates. Mehdi describes this as "helping customers stay protected by moving to modern new PCs," but the marketing speak doesn't necessarily line up with reality. As we've noted several times in recent months, the adoption of Windows 11 is severely lagging three years on from release. Windows 11's share of the PC OS market even fell in recent months, according to StatCounter, with Windows 10 still present on more than 60 percent of PCs as of the end of 2024. Canalys analyst Kieren Jessop even told The Register in an earlier interview that it wasn't uncommon for enterprises to "downgrade their newly procured Win11 devices to Win10" because the aging OS was more stable and had greater compatibility with other systems. Microsoft, meanwhile, continues to tout its Copilot+ branded AI PCs as "the fastest, most intelligent" machines around that "set new benchmarks for speed, intelligence and security," but that hype doesn't match up with user experience, either. Many Copilot+ PCs, designed to run AI workloads locally, have been reported to underperform in video gaming. Microsoft Copilot's chatbot AI even admitted when asked that Copilot+ PCs don't live up to the hype. But none of that matters, apparently: Microsoft doesn't appear willing to budge on the steep hardware requirements for Windows 11, and is prepared to consign lots of PCs to the recycling pile come October. Even without responding to questions for this story, Redmond's position was made quite clear by Mehdi's blog post: The Windows shop is going to keep hyping Windows 11 and trying to sell the public on its AI OS vision, whether customers like it or not. ®

Windows 10's days are numbered, and Microsoft is starting a big push for Windows 11 upgrades

Microsoft is looking to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week as a catalyst for Windows users to upgrade to new PCs running the latest version of the operating system and specialized AI processors. Declaring this "the year of the Windows 11 PC refresh," the company cites the upcoming October 2025 end of support for Windows 10, along with the advent of AI-enabled Copilot+ PCs on Windows 11, as reason to make the leap. Microsoft has a big job ahead: More than 62% of Windows PC users were still on Windows 10 machines as of December, according to Statcounter. About 34% were on Windows 11 machines as of last month. Windows 10 was released in mid-2015, almost a decade ago. The scheduled end of support on Oct. 14, 2025, means that the company will no longer provide free software updates, technical assistance or security updates. "[W]e believe that one of the most important pieces of technology people will look to refresh in 2025 isn't the refrigerator, the television or their mobile phone. It will be their Windows 10 PC, and they will move forward with Windows 11," writes Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft executive vice president and consumer chief marketing officer. Microsoft says there will be a series of Windows 11 PC announcements at CES from a variety of hardware makers. Current devices are available from Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer, ASUS, Samsung and Microsoft's own Surface line. Copilot+ PCs have neural processing units, or NPUs, designed to work with AI models and applications. Microsoft says they are up to five times faster than the most popular 5-year-old Windows PCs still in use. It says the top models of these new computers are up to 58% faster than a MacBook Air with an M3 processor. Microsoft also points to improved security and battery life as reasons to upgrade. The company cites IDC research indicating that nearly 80% of businesses plan to refresh their portfolios of PCs by the end of this year, with 70% of consumers upgrading in the next two years, according to the firm. "Eventually, AI will be ubiquitous on PCs," said Linn Huang, IDC research vice president, in a June 2024 news release. "In the meantime, we see AI PCs (defined here as those with NPUs) ramping up from roughly one in five this year, to nearly two out of every three shipped in 2028." After launching last year with Qualcomm Snapdragon processors, Copilot+ PCs have expanded to also include AMD Ryzen AI and Intel Core Ultra processors. Microsoft is previewing new features for Copilot+ PCs through its Windows Insider program, including the Windows Recall photographic memory. An upgraded Windows search capability is coming soon, Mehdi writes in his post. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will deliver the opening keynote at CES in Las Vegas at 6:30 p.m. Pacific time on Monday night Jan. 6. It's a high-profile speaking slot that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates held for many years.

Microsoft announces end of Windows 10 support and focuses on Copilot AI PCs

Why it matters: Microsoft is convinced it has the best case in years for Windows, driven by the rise of AI PCs and better performance and battery life comparisons against the Mac. Driving the news: Microsoft plans to end support for Windows 10 on Oct. 25, which the company believes will fuel a massive PC upgrade cycle over the next few years. By the numbers: Microsoft said that by the end of the holiday season, 10% of PCs sold were Copilot+ PCs (Microsoft's brand for computers capable of running AI apps natively), and it aims to have these computers account for the majority of sales within the next two years. Between the lines: For all the promise of AI PCs, the category has yet to spawn a "killer app." When it comes to AI, most people don't do more than open a browser or perhaps use a native app that connects to their cloud-based chatbot. Yes, but: Microsoft's plan to capitalize on AI PCs suffered a setback last year as the company was forced to delay Recall, which it had pegged as the signature feature of its first Copilot+ PC. What's next: A Windows 11 update this spring will make Recall finally broadly available and a second update later this year will accompany new hardware, Mehdi said.