Channel partner leaders have expressed concern about the number of customers still running Windows 10 machines as the operating system’s end of life date looms.
Microsoft will stop providing free support for Windows 10 on 14 October 2025.
But according to one recent estimate, some 121 million enterprise PCs will still be running the OS beyond that date, implying a first-year custom support bill of $7.3bn.
So how ready is the UK for Windows 10 end of life?
Read what our five channel partner leaders had to say below….
“We are concerned”
Andy Wright, Managing Director (UK) – Digital Workplace Services, SCC
With the end-of-support date now just 49 days away, how concerned are you about the number of customers, and UK organisations more generally, who are still on Windows 10?
It’s been a busy summer moving customers to Windows 11, but it’s clear that some have not been able to make the shift. There will be a lot of Windows 10 out there still and that produces a risk and a security attack plane for hackers. Customers are also exposed to a decline in support for applications like M365. Without a doubt over the rest of 2025 they will start to see a decline in performance and reliability if they are stuck on an unsupported OS. So, to answer the question, we are concerned.
Windows 11, the rise of AI PCs, and the ageing PC install base are said to have created a “perfect storm” for PC refresh in 2025. To what extent has this boosted your PC sales this year, and, looking at your client base, how far through that PC refresh are we?
We have seen a notable boost over the past six months. It’s hard to split that into Windows 11 and natural hardware refresh which is rooted in the COVID-procured devices coming up to four and five years old, but you could look at it as a perfect storm. AI PC has had only a small impact on those decisions. We are deeply into that refresh, and I think levels of demand will start to slow back to a bit more of a normal pace. However, there will be a second phase of work that will happen as customers will be looking at the user experience of using Windows 11, Teams and Copilot on a device that has met the minimal specifications but it’s not giving them the performance that they need.
What percentage of your customers would you estimate have fully transitioned, or are in the process of transitioning, to Windows 11?
We are looking at about 80-90% of customers have moved fully or will be close to full transition as we move through October and November.
Is it fair to say the demand for AI PCs has been slower than expected?
It’s slower than Microsoft and the vendors might have expected, and closer to the level that we expected. Having said that, as customers look at experience and productivity for the users I would expect to see a shift in this market. This will also be driven by customers really getting their heads around where they want to use AI and how they want to use. It’s clear that we have a productivity issue in the UK and these tools sets if positioned correctly have a major part to play in driving improvements in that space.
See next page for more channel partner leader views…
