Microsoft already set the date of October 14, 2025, for the end of Windows 10 support, and it’s serious. The company has spent the past three years telling Windows 10 users to upgrade to Windows 11, and so far, it’s been a slow process to get people to make the jump.
Only in January did the gap between the number of Windows 10 and 11 users tightened, with the older operating system still in the lead with 60.7% of the market share while the new OS was sitting at 36.6%, according to StatCounter.
That gap between the two operating systems is almost flipped when it comes to Steam users.
Valve released its “Steam Hardware & Software Survey” for January 2025, and it appears that PC gamers have been quicker to adopt to the new version of Windows.
PCs using Windows 11 accounted for just over 53% of Windows users while 10 made up almost 43%. Coming in at a very, very distant third place were Windows 7 users at 0.15%.
What are Steam gamers waiting for?
While the number of Windows 10 users is fewer than 11, at 40% that is a lot of gamers who are still riding an older version of the operating system, which will stop being supported in less than a year.
After the October 14 date, Microsoft will stop supporting Windows 10 after a decade since its release. That means no more updates, security fixes, or technical support. Anyone still on Windows 10 after that October is going to be on their own. This could be incredibly risky for those who keep using the old operating system as gaming on PC can be a bit risky.
One of the latest hacks to show up is in the popular hero shooter, Marvel Rivals. There appears to be a new vulnerability uncovered that could be exploited to let some hacker take over another players PC, according to a report from PC Gamer. Just upgrading to Windows 11 won’t solve this hack, but having an operating system with continued support will likely help stop these kinds of vulnerablities in the future.
For those who insist on keeping Windows 10, Microsoft will offer a year of extra support, but there’s a price for this service. Extended Security Updates (ESU) will cost users an extra $30 for the year. After that, they will truly be on their own.
How do I upgrade my gaming PC to Windows 11?
Fortunately, Microsoft is making it very easy to upgade a PC from Windows 11.
If you’re on the old operating system, you’re likely already seeing messages about the upgrade. Microsoft is giving away the upgrade to Windows 11 for free, although a blog post from the company went up back in January claimng that this would be a “limited time deal.” Microsoft has since deleted that post, confirming with Windows Latest that the upgrade to Windows 11 from Windows 10 will remain free.
Microsoft claims Windows 11 is safer, has better performance, more functionality and better features such as the controversial Microsoft Recall, which takes snapshots of the computer allowing users to do a search for actions they’ve done in the past.
While upgrading to Windows 11 from 10 is easy as it’s just a click of the upgrade option, the PC still has to meet the requirements to run it. Most Windows 10 PCs should be able to upgrade without issue, but there are lesser-known hardware requirements that could cause an error requiring users to stay with Windows 10.