New warning for Windows users as Microsoft’s controversial decision hits.

In the past couple of weeks, Microsoft Windows users have been bombarded with significant malware threats following an extensive Patch Tuesday, leading to numerous alerts from the U.S. government. This period is critical, and ceasing ongoing security support isn’t something to be considered lightly. However, soon, millions of users may have no other option.

The conversation centers around the impending end of life for Windows 10 coming next October, and the challenging scenario for numerous Windows users who are hesitant or unable to upgrade to Windows 11 due to stringent security requirements.

Many users are wondering if these stringent security measures will be eased as the deadline approaches, to encourage a greater number of upgrades. Others ponder if there might be any possibility of a free extension that could offer more time, beyond the costly paid options Microsoft might introduce.

Unfortunately, for any Windows 10 users hoping for such changes last month brought more bad news over and above Patch Tuesday. Microsoft dashed hopes by shutting down the well-publicized “/product server” workaround that tricked the Windows setup process into completely ignoring its usual hardware tests.

At the time, I commented on Forbes that “Microsoft’s new workaround decision seems to be a confirmation of its intent, maintaining its firm stance where Windows 11 hardware is confirmed… which is bad news for the 70% of all Windows users staring down the barrel of October 2025.”

XDA Developers has now suggested that “using unsupported hardware on Windows 11 is only going to get more miserable,” and their reasoning—if right—should be another warning for Windows 10 holdouts that Microsoft is unlikely to relent.

There is the obvious benefit for Microsoft, the site says, in “forcing people who want to continue to get official support to hop to Windows 11 [which] would drive PC sales,” but “there’s another layer that’s in play here.”

This “other play” is AI—what else. “Microsoft is going all-in on its AI strategy, creating what’s called ‘Copilot+ PCs’ that have enhanced AI tools that utilize a system’s NPU. Right now, there aren’t too many Copilot+ PCs out there, but give the company just over a year and there should be a lot more.”

A few hundred million PC upgrades will equate to a serious increase in the number of Copilot + PCs knocking around, so the theory goes, and it’s hard to argue the logic. Especially when the tidy, monthly revenues from AI subs come into view.

Unplanned though it likely is, there’s certainly something mightily convenient about a generational shift in the requirement for PC hardware coinciding with a separate, generational shift in recurring AI revenues—rather like your connecting flights arriving and connecting from adjacent gates.

Two other stories in the last week provide some neat, additional context. First is the resurgence of Recall. This constant stream of screenshots of everything done on your PC—good and bad—should enable an AI engine to summon up anything through a simple prompt. Unsurprisingly, it was labeled a privacy nightmare when it was first mooted. Now with some more security protections and opt-outs and even (possibly) an option to uninstall, it’s coming back—at least for more advanced users to test.

The second variation on a theme introduces the possibility for Windows 11 to index all video and audio files stored on a PC to enhance search capabilities. This evolution implies that the essence of your PC will evolve into a central hub for all your memories, supervised by Microsoft’s AI. This scenario might discourage those clinging to outdated operating systems from continuing to do so.

The next 13 months are shaping up to be captivating for the Windows ecosystem as these developments unfold, with the adoption of newer AI features—particularly Recall—and examination of how Windows 11 upgrades can narrow the significant existing divide.

“Whatever happens,” XDA Developers cautions the 70% of Windows users yet to make the switch, “it’s likely that using Windows 11 on incompatible hardware will become increasingly difficult.”

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