If your business is still running Windows 10, the clock has already run out once — and it's about to run out again. Microsoft ended free support for Windows 10 on 14 October 2025. Since then, it has shipped no security patches for the operating system unless you're paying for a stopgap called Extended Security Updates (ESU). And the first year of ESU expires around October 2026 — roughly three months from now.
That makes this the moment to make a real decision, not kick it down the road again. In fifteen years of running IT migrations for Perth businesses, I can tell you the ones who plan this now spend a fraction of what the ones who wait for a crisis do. Here's how to think about it.
What "end of support" actually means for your business
Windows 10 still turns on and still runs. That's exactly what makes it dangerous — nothing looks broken, so it's easy to ignore. But under the surface, every new security flaw discovered in Windows 10 since October 2025 stays permanently unpatched unless you're in the ESU program. Attackers know this, and unsupported operating systems become a bigger target with every month that passes.
For a Perth business, running out-of-support Windows has three practical consequences:
Security: you're accumulating known, exploitable holes that will never be fixed. This is one of the exact gaps we wrote about in the four IT gaps small businesses overlook.
Compliance and insurance: many cyber-insurance policies now require supported, patched systems. Running end-of-life software can void a claim at the worst possible moment.
Software support: app vendors progressively drop support for Windows 10 too, so your line-of-business and accounting software slowly stops being tested against the OS you're running.
The choice: pay to delay, or move to Windows 11
You have two honest options, and the right one depends on your hardware.
Option 1 — Extended Security Updates (buy time)
ESU is Microsoft's paid bridge. It delivers critical security patches only — no new features, no fixes for anything that isn't a security hole. It's priced per device and increases each year, deliberately, to push businesses toward upgrading rather than staying put. It's a valid choice, but be clear about what it is: a way to buy planning time, not a destination. If you're on the first year of ESU, it lapses around October 2026, and the second year costs more.
ESU makes sense when you have machines that genuinely can't move yet — a PC tied to a specialised piece of equipment, or software that isn't Windows 11-ready — and you need a controlled runway to replace them.
Option 2 — Windows 11 (the real fix)
For almost every business, moving to Windows 11 is the destination. It's supported, actively patched, and meaningfully more secure by design — it requires a hardware security chip called TPM 2.0 and enables protections that simply aren't available on older setups. The catch is that same requirement: some older computers can't run Windows 11 at all and need replacing.
How to plan it — the next 90 days
A Windows 11 migration only becomes a fire drill when it's left to the last minute. Done properly, it's a calm, staged project. Here's the sequence we use:
Inventory every device. You can't plan what you can't see. List every computer, its age, and — crucially — whether it meets Windows 11's requirements (TPM 2.0 and a supported processor). This is one of the first things a managed IT provider does, and it's usually eye-opening.
Sort machines into three buckets: upgrade in place (eligible, just needs the OS update), replace (too old for Windows 11), and bridge with ESU (can't move yet for a specific reason). Now you know your actual cost, not a guess.
Check your software. Confirm your accounting, practice-management or industry-specific applications are supported on Windows 11 before you migrate — not after. A quick vendor check now avoids a nasty surprise later.
Budget and stage the replacements. Spread hardware purchases across a couple of months rather than absorbing them in one hit. Planning ahead is the difference between a line item and an emergency — see our Perth MSP pricing guide for how IT budgeting usually works.
Back up before you touch anything. No migration should start without a verified, tested backup. Rebuilds and replacements go wrong occasionally; a good backup turns that from a disaster into a shrug.
Roll out in waves. Migrate a small group first, confirm everything works — printing, email, line-of-business apps — then move the rest. Nobody should lose a day's work to an upgrade.
Why this is a good moment, not just a chore
It's tempting to see this purely as a cost. It isn't. A forced hardware refresh is the natural time to fix the things that have been quietly accumulating: standardise your machines, clean up who has access to what, tighten security to the ASD Essential Eight baseline, and make sure your cybersecurity is actually layered rather than hopeful. Businesses that treat the Windows 11 move as a reset usually come out faster, more secure and easier to support than they were before.
Don't wait for October
The worst version of this is the one where nothing happens until a machine gets compromised, an insurer asks a hard question, or the second year of ESU pricing lands. You have a short, calm window right now to make the call on your terms.
If you'd like a hand, we can audit your fleet, tell you exactly which machines upgrade and which need replacing, check your software compatibility, and stage the whole move around your business — with tested backups at every step. Get in touch with the Computer Mechanics team or call (08) 9325 1196. We've guided Perth businesses through every Windows transition since 1997, and this one's very manageable with a bit of lead time.
