Microsoft has announced that it will be stopping support for more Windows 10 in 2025. Due to this more than 24 Crore computers are projected to be wasted according to a report by Market Analyst firm Canalys.
According to the firm’s analysis, Microsoft’s Windows 11 will help support a struggling PC market as customers prepare for another refresh cycle – but the termination of Windows 10 support could prevent hundreds of millions of devices from getting second lives, leaving many liable to end up in landfills.
The availability of Windows 11 on newer PCs will also drive growth. But many devices currently in-use lack the hardware requirements for Microsoft’s newest OS – preventing the channel from refurbishing these viable PCs for their second lives.
According to Canalys’ report, in the nearly two-year period until Microsoft’s official end-of-support date for Windows 10 in 2025, roughly a fifth of devices will become e-waste due to incompatibility with the Windows 11 OS. This equates to nearly 24 crore PCs. If these were all folded laptops, stacked one on top of another, they would make a pile almost 600 km taller than the moon. Most of these in good condition would be recycled. But their incompatibility with the latest supported version of Windows massively reduces their value for refurbishing and reselling.
Many of the PCs will still be usable for years to come, but demand for devices no longer supported by Microsoft will be minimal. Even companies with the tightest of IT budgets will be deterred by the lack of free and continued security updates.
Microsoft will be shutting down Windows 10 support on October 14, 2025.