Microsoft support for Windows 10 officially ends today, but a third of Steam players still use it
Security updates, technical assistance and feature updates will no longer be provided from today
Microsoft has officially ended support for Windows 10, around a decade after it was originally released.
Starting today, October 14, there will no longer be any technical support, software updates or security updates for Windows 10 users.
“After October 14, 2025, your computer running Windows 10 will no longer receive security updates,” the company said. “In addition, Microsoft customer service will no longer be available to provide Windows 10 technical support.”
PCs and devices running Windows 10 will still work after this date, but over time they could become more susceptible to security issues. As such, Microsoft recommends that Windows 10 users start looking into upgrading to Windows 11.
“While you could continue to use a PC running Windows 10, without continued software and security updates, your PC will be at a greater risk for viruses and malware,” the company explained.
“After this date, we recommend upgrading to a version of Windows that is still supported. A new device that can run Windows 11 makes for an easy transition and a great experience.”
Windows 10 users who meet the minimum hardware specifications can upgrade to Windows 11 for free by going to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and selecting Check for updates.
Windows 11 was released in 2021, meaning practically every PC sold since then contains the latest operating system. Despite this, Windows 10 is still the second most used operating system on Steam.
According to Valve‘s hardware survey for September 2025, a total of 32.18% of users surveyed are still using Windows 10 – a drop of 2.9% but still around a third of Steam users nevertheless.
The percentage on Steam is lower than the global average – according to StatCounter, more than 40% of Windows users are still using Windows 10, and nearly 10% are still using its predecessor Windows 7. Steam’s lower figures are likely a result of video game players being more likely to upgrade their PC earlier.
Steam’s figures also show that 53% of users play games at 1080p resolution with a further 20% playing at 1440p. Only 4.8% of players currently have 4K as their primary resolution.
