Executive Summary
Microsoft has announced that Windows 11 will have much stricter hardware requirements than prior versions of Windows, and as such, your current computers may not be able to run Windows 11. We highly recommend that you begin the process of budgeting and planning for computers that are able to run Windows 11.
Windows Lifecycles
Windows 10 retirement date is scheduled for October 14, 2025. Until then, Windows will continue to receive periodic updates. After October 14, 2025, Windows 10 will no longer receive updates.
In case you are still running a “legacy” version of Windows, you are past the end of life on nearly all of them. From a security standpoint, you should not be running anything prior to Windows 8.1!
The chart below summarizes the end-of-life dates for the most popular versions of Windows.
Product | Launch Date | End of Life |
---|---|---|
Windows XP | Dec 31, 2001 | Apr 8, 2014 |
Windows 7 | Oct 22, 2009 | Jan 14, 2020 |
Windows 8 | Oct 30, 2012 | Jan 12, 2016 |
Windows 8.1 | Nov 13, 2013 | Jan 10, 2023 |
Windows 10 | Jul 29, 2015 | Oct 14, 2025 |
To determine what version of Windows you are currently running, open a windows explorer window, right click on “This PC” or “My Computer” and select properties from the context menu.
Free upgrades to eligible PCs will be available from Oct. 5, 2021, and will continue
into 2022.
Windows 11 Hardware Requirements
Microsoft has a tool to help you evaluate your devices against the Windows 11 hardware requirements. Users running Windows 10 can use the PC Health Check app to determine their eligibility for Windows 11.
Have you checked your server?
While we are discussing the upgrade to Windows 11, have you checked your server lately, and the versions of the software running on it. The chart below summarizes the end of life dates for the most popular versions of Windows Server.
Product | Launch Date | End of Life |
---|---|---|
Windows Server 2008 R2 | Oct 22, 2009 | Jan 14, 2020 |
Windows Server 2012 R2 | Nov 25, 2013 | Oct 10, 2023 |
Windows Server 2016 | Oct 12, 2016 | Jan 11, 2027 |
Windows Server 2019 | Nov 13, 2018 | Jan 9, 2029 |
Windows Server 2022 | Aug 18, 2021 | Oct 14, 2031 |
Summary
It is very important that you plan ahead for this next Windows migration and that you start budgeting now for the upgraded computers required to run Windows 11. October 2025 is just a couple years away and the process of planning for and upgrading your computer infrastructure could take quite a while.
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