When you get to a certain age, birthdays stop being as meaningful as they were when you're younger, but in the case of a certain Microsoft operating system, this one is very special. That's because on 29 July 2015, Windows 10 was released to the public, and I'm happy to celebrate its tenth anniversary. I'm also a little sad because it's the last birthday it will get to enjoy.
Yes, that's right—Windows 10 is 10 years old. Has a nice feel to it, right? It's certainly more impressive than Windows 7 and 8, which lasted a mere six years apiece (not including their extended support periods). Windows Vista barely made it to three, I think, and although Windows 11 has passed that low bar, I suspect it's going to struggle to get anywhere near Windows 10.
So why has it lasted so long? Well, it's simple: Microsoft set the hardware entry requirements for Windows 11 in such a way that a whole host of older PCs weren't able to run it. That's not entirely true, of course, as there were ways to bypass some of those barriers. But for the most part, Windows 10 users either didn't have the means to upgrade or chose not to because their PC and operating system did everything they wanted.
This has been the main problem facing Windows 11 right from the very beginning. It just didn't bring anything to the table that would make millions of people throw away perfectly fine hardware to install the newer operating system, and one can argue that it still doesn't now. This is especially true if you use your PC for nothing but gaming, because all of the latest CPUs, motherboards, and graphics cards work just as well in Windows 10 as they do in Windows 11.
Sadly, despite its long-held popularity, Windows 10 won't officially see an eleventh birthday. That's because Microsoft will pull the plug on regular support on 14 October 2025, though security updates will continue for a while through extended support for a further 12 months. So technically, it will get to wear an 'I'm 11 today' party badge but not a Microsoft-rubberstamped one.
I must confess that while I am sad to see Windows 10 go, I converted to Win 11 from the get-go because I had to for testing purposes. I did stick with the older and far more stable OS on one rig for a year or so, but by then all my work pretty much demanded that I had to be using Windows 11. I did miss that gorgeous desktop screen, though.
Over the four years since it came out, I've got used to all of Windows 11's foibles and annoyances, and where I haven't, I've got around them by using third-party applications (such as Stardock Start11) to get things exactly the way I like them. When 11 is finally given the heave-ho by Microsoft, I don't suspect I'll miss it, but if the next version is worse, perhaps I'll become a 10-ner (tenner?) and stick rigidly to it, until it's prised out of my wonky old fingers.
Anyway, happy birthday, Windows 10. You're perhaps not the greatest version of Windows to ever exist, but nobody can deny that you've aged like fine wine. Not that 10-year-olds should really be drinking potent booze, of course. Unless operating systems age like dogs, in which case, salute!
