With the end-of-support date for Windows 10 looming on October 14, 2025, millions of users — from home office workers to mission-critical industrial operators — now face high-stakes decisions about if and how to upgrade. Since Microsoft announced their new, stricter hardware requirements for Windows 11, the transition has proven less a simple software migration and more a hardware and security reckoning for a vast swath of the world’s PCs. While the pressure mounts for mainstream users to update or risk running an unsupported, vulnerable operating system, industrial and enterprise customers enjoy pathways and options largely unavailable to the consumer class — a divergence that’s reshaping upgrade calculus across entire sectors.
According to Microsoft’s own figures and recent market-share data, Windows 10 still powered approximately 54% of all Windows desktops as of spring 2025, with Windows 11 capturing about 43%. This means that as many as half of all active Windows devices face a cliff-edge in just months, a scenario reminiscent of the twilight days of Windows XP and Windows 7, but amplified by stiffer security and hardware demands from Microsoft’s latest OS generation.
For home and professional users, the pressure to upgrade is immediate and inescapable. After October 14, 2025, Windows 10 will no longer receive free security updates or feature improvements. This exposes unpatched systems to a rapidly evolving cybersecurity threat landscape — one that the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Microsoft increasingly describe as a national infrastructure risk. In response, Microsoft has shifted toward a “secure by design” philosophy with Windows 11, foregrounding platform resilience, advanced encryption, and hardware-enforced security controls as baseline requirements.
This pivot makes sense in a world increasingly defined by ransomware, supply chain attacks, and remote workforces. Anyone with responsibility for a fleet of managed laptops containing sensitive corporate or industrial data already appreciates the importance of device-level security that cannot be easily bypassed by either physical attackers or sophisticated malware.
However, these advancements come at a cost for millions of users with capable — but just slightly older — hardware. Ironically, Windows 11 does not demand more processing performance to run most workloads, but rather locks out older devices to enforce modern security best practices. This leaves legions of competent machines, particularly in small businesses and homes, without a straightforward upgrade path.
Consider the case of Beckhoff USA, a leader in industrial PC (IPC) and automation solutions. As Andrew Bollinger, Beckhoff’s industrial PC product manager, notes, the company’s IPCs can ship with Windows 10 LTSC, which continues to receive official support through 2027 — two years beyond Windows 10’s consumer cutoff. Beckhoff, in turn, pledges OS-level support through 2032 for these devices, allowing industrial users to defer disruptive upgrades and maintain regulatory or real-time performance requirements.
The release of Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2024 further expands this path for industrial and embedded markets. With guaranteed update support through October 10, 2034, unparalleled real-time capabilities, and compatibility with industry-standard technologies like BitLocker, Secure Boot, and UEFI, the new LTSC variant provides a stable, secured foundation for devices that demand uptime over novelty. For mission-critical functions — think food manufacturing, packaging, and plant-floor automation — stability and predictability trump the rolling feature cadence of Windows 11 Pro or Home.
Beckhoff is not unique; many industrial and enterprise device makers leverage LTSC releases to balance long-term stability, regulatory obligations, and the need for ongoing security updates. Importantly, LTSC deployments eschew the consumer bloatware and frequent feature interruptions that plague general-purpose editions, making them ideal for “lean installations” where every background process matters.
For mainstream hardware, Microsoft’s push toward standardization in Windows 11 has largely paid off: the vast majority of new and recent peripherals have robust, continually updated drivers, especially for business and enterprise-class devices. That said, there remain edge cases — legacy or highly specialized devices — where replacement or careful handling of older operating systems is unavoidable.
As Kyle Reissner puts it: “Security is an endless game where you must keep updating your systems, both from an OS and vendor-software perspective.” Stale, unpatched systems in 2025 are simply indefensible, especially as attack methods grow more sophisticated and ubiquitous.
Containerization — using Docker, Podman, or LXC — now allows multiple real-time workloads to run alongside one another on a single Industrial PC, a practice that not only consolidates hardware but also introduces significant cost efficiencies and scalable modernization paths.
Yet, industry watchers note that mass migration to Linux as a Windows alternative remains limited. While Linux offers real-time performance and advanced customization, most enterprises prefer the familiarity, vendor support, and maturing security stack of Windows, especially as hardware costs continue to fall and software ecosystems expand.
Even so, enterprise leaders like MEIDS often recommend performing clean installations to eliminate vendor bloat and ensure only mission-critical software is present. With modern web-based HMI (human-machine interface) architectures and the rising power of edge and server hardware, many organizations now centralize process visualization safely out of reach from direct plant-floor risk, with operators and managers accessing real-time data through isolated, browser-based dashboards.
For industrial and enterprise sectors, the LTSC and IoT Enterprise editions offer a welcome reprieve, delivering stability and update coverage that makes platform planning possible years into the future. Still, sustained attention to security — both from vendors and operators — is non-negotiable in an environment of rising threats and non-trivial update costs.
Savvy organizations are leveraging this transition period to modernize their fleets, incorporate containerized and web-driven architectures where possible, and establish clear, multi-year OS support roadmaps. As the sunset on Windows 10 approaches, the imperative becomes not just to upgrade for the sake of compliance, but to take full advantage of security, performance, and manageability gains that have become essential in today’s always-on, threat-rich digital environment.
Enterprise and industrious users find themselves in an enviable position, with bespoke, long-term servicing options and hybrid OS flexibility unavailable to the mainstream. However, the lesson for all sectors is the same: frequent updates and a peace-of-mind security stance are no longer optional — they are table stakes in the modern threat landscape. For anyone planning beyond 2025, the controlled embrace of Windows 11 and its industrial cousins may be the surest path toward a secure, stable, and future-proof digital backbone.
Source: FOOD ENGINEERING Magazine Ready? Windows 10 Support Ends in 2025 but Industrial and Enterprise Users Have Options
The Clock Ticks Down on Windows 10: Millions Still Left Behind
According to Microsoft’s own figures and recent market-share data, Windows 10 still powered approximately 54% of all Windows desktops as of spring 2025, with Windows 11 capturing about 43%. This means that as many as half of all active Windows devices face a cliff-edge in just months, a scenario reminiscent of the twilight days of Windows XP and Windows 7, but amplified by stiffer security and hardware demands from Microsoft’s latest OS generation.For home and professional users, the pressure to upgrade is immediate and inescapable. After October 14, 2025, Windows 10 will no longer receive free security updates or feature improvements. This exposes unpatched systems to a rapidly evolving cybersecurity threat landscape — one that the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Microsoft increasingly describe as a national infrastructure risk. In response, Microsoft has shifted toward a “secure by design” philosophy with Windows 11, foregrounding platform resilience, advanced encryption, and hardware-enforced security controls as baseline requirements.
Secure by Design: Windows 11 Hardware and Security Foundation
What sets Windows 11 apart isn’t higher system demands to run everyday apps, but a foundational shift toward platform-level security enforcement. Starting in 2021, Microsoft required that all new Windows 11 PCs include Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0, Secure Boot, and — typically — 8th-generation Intel CPUs or newer. These were controversial but calculated moves: TPM and Secure Boot together ensure robust encryption, secure credential storage, and trusted-boot pathways that make it dramatically harder for both thieves and malware to compromise systems, especially if devices fall into the wrong hands.This pivot makes sense in a world increasingly defined by ransomware, supply chain attacks, and remote workforces. Anyone with responsibility for a fleet of managed laptops containing sensitive corporate or industrial data already appreciates the importance of device-level security that cannot be easily bypassed by either physical attackers or sophisticated malware.
However, these advancements come at a cost for millions of users with capable — but just slightly older — hardware. Ironically, Windows 11 does not demand more processing performance to run most workloads, but rather locks out older devices to enforce modern security best practices. This leaves legions of competent machines, particularly in small businesses and homes, without a straightforward upgrade path.
Extended Support for the Left Behind: The Cost of Staying Put
Microsoft’s answer to those left marooned on Windows 10 is the Extended Security Updates (ESU) program, which offers paid security patches for up to three additional years post-end-of-support. The catch? The cost rises sharply each year, purposely nudging users towards fully supported hardware:- Year One (2025–2026): $61 per device for businesses, $30 for individuals
- Year Two (2026–2027): Price doubles from Year One
- Year Three (2027–2028): Price doubles again
Industrial and Enterprise Pathways: LTSC and Beyond
While consumers and small businesses negotiate deadlines and spiraling costs, industrial and enterprise users benefit from markedly different timelines and tools. Here, Windows 10 and Windows 11 Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) editions play a pivotal role.Consider the case of Beckhoff USA, a leader in industrial PC (IPC) and automation solutions. As Andrew Bollinger, Beckhoff’s industrial PC product manager, notes, the company’s IPCs can ship with Windows 10 LTSC, which continues to receive official support through 2027 — two years beyond Windows 10’s consumer cutoff. Beckhoff, in turn, pledges OS-level support through 2032 for these devices, allowing industrial users to defer disruptive upgrades and maintain regulatory or real-time performance requirements.
The release of Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2024 further expands this path for industrial and embedded markets. With guaranteed update support through October 10, 2034, unparalleled real-time capabilities, and compatibility with industry-standard technologies like BitLocker, Secure Boot, and UEFI, the new LTSC variant provides a stable, secured foundation for devices that demand uptime over novelty. For mission-critical functions — think food manufacturing, packaging, and plant-floor automation — stability and predictability trump the rolling feature cadence of Windows 11 Pro or Home.
Beckhoff is not unique; many industrial and enterprise device makers leverage LTSC releases to balance long-term stability, regulatory obligations, and the need for ongoing security updates. Importantly, LTSC deployments eschew the consumer bloatware and frequent feature interruptions that plague general-purpose editions, making them ideal for “lean installations” where every background process matters.
Real-World Adoption: The Case of MEIDS and Mitsubishi Electric Iconics
The wider enterprise landscape reveals accelerating, but uneven, adoption of Windows 11’s security and feature upgrades. Mitsubishi Electric Iconics Digital Solutions (MEIDS), for instance, has steadily built Windows 11 support into its mission-critical platforms:- GENESIS SCADA and Hyper Historian have supported Windows 11 workstations since version 10.97.1 (released in 2021), with full-capacity support and certification arriving in subsequent releases.
- Kyle Reissner, VP of product management for MEIDS, emphasizes that “When either a server or Windows 11 class OS is coupled with our latest release, GENESIS version 11, it becomes a more secure and performant system.” Notably, GENESIS exploits .NET 8.0 and the latest security stack, offering customers not only compatibility but tangible boosts in security posture and operational reliability.
Drivers and Compatibility: The Quiet Revolution
Historically, driver headaches have haunted every major Windows upgrade. However, the landscape in 2025 has shifted. For industrial PCs and tightly controlled automation platforms, only tested, manufacturer-matched drivers see deployment. This approach, as Beckhoff and MEIDS both emphasize, dramatically limits downtime, curtails security gaps from outdated or misbehaving drivers, and enhances both real-time performance and system resilience.For mainstream hardware, Microsoft’s push toward standardization in Windows 11 has largely paid off: the vast majority of new and recent peripherals have robust, continually updated drivers, especially for business and enterprise-class devices. That said, there remain edge cases — legacy or highly specialized devices — where replacement or careful handling of older operating systems is unavoidable.
Security, Performance, and the Case for Upgrading
Microsoft touts three main reasons for upgrading to Windows 11: enhanced security, future-proofing, and performance gains.1. Enhanced Security
From TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot to built-in virtualization-based security and memory integrity features, Windows 11 delivers substantially improved out-of-the-box protection against a wide array of threats. Microsoft and partners now release security updates to Windows 11 with increasing regularity and speed — every 8-12 weeks for some platforms, keeping pace with the rapid discovery of new vulnerabilities.As Kyle Reissner puts it: “Security is an endless game where you must keep updating your systems, both from an OS and vendor-software perspective.” Stale, unpatched systems in 2025 are simply indefensible, especially as attack methods grow more sophisticated and ubiquitous.
2. Future-Proofing
With official support timelines and hardware requirements now transparent, new installations of Windows 11 LTSC or mainstream Windows 11 editions give organizations a clear runway through much of the next decade. The addition of hotpatch updates in the latest releases — enabling certain security patches to apply without requiring system reboots — exemplifies how Microsoft tries to minimize operational disruption while maximizing resilience in the face of new vulnerabilities.3. Performance Gains
While Windows 11 does not dramatically exceed Windows 10’s performance for most workloads, certain workloads — especially those that rely on advanced security or take advantage of .NET 8.0 and improved virtualization support — do show marked improvements. Industrial and scientific platforms, particularly those utilizing multi-core and AI-accelerated compute, are already reaping dividends from tuning and optimization present only in Windows 11 and the newest Windows Server offerings.Alternative Paths: BSD and Linux on the Industrial Floor
Despite the centrality of Windows in industrial and enterprise spaces, both Beckhoff and other automation vendors acknowledge the presence — and advantages — of open-source competitors. Beckhoff, for example, now offers its own TwinCAT/BSD platform, combining its automation runtime with the industrially proven FreeBSD operating system. Furthermore, TwinCAT now runs on Beckhoff’s own custom Linux distribution for real-time applications, reflecting growing demand for flexibility, modularity, and cost control.Containerization — using Docker, Podman, or LXC — now allows multiple real-time workloads to run alongside one another on a single Industrial PC, a practice that not only consolidates hardware but also introduces significant cost efficiencies and scalable modernization paths.
Yet, industry watchers note that mass migration to Linux as a Windows alternative remains limited. While Linux offers real-time performance and advanced customization, most enterprises prefer the familiarity, vendor support, and maturing security stack of Windows, especially as hardware costs continue to fall and software ecosystems expand.
Lean OSes and The Battle Against Bloatware
One quiet, ongoing pain point for Windows users is the accumulation of “bloatware” — trial software, non-essential features, and unnecessary background processes that bog down installations and increase attack surfaces. Here, Windows LTSC variants — especially Windows 11 IoT Enterprise 2024 LTSC — shine. These stripped-down, update-focused editions forego the consumer bells and whistles in favor of maximum stability, predictable update cycles, and optimal resource use for embedded or plant-floor systems.Even so, enterprise leaders like MEIDS often recommend performing clean installations to eliminate vendor bloat and ensure only mission-critical software is present. With modern web-based HMI (human-machine interface) architectures and the rising power of edge and server hardware, many organizations now centralize process visualization safely out of reach from direct plant-floor risk, with operators and managers accessing real-time data through isolated, browser-based dashboards.
Critical Analysis: Windows 11’s Strengths and Structural Risks
Notable Strengths
- Security by Default: The integration of TPM, Secure Boot, and increasingly aggressive patching schedules elevate the base security of the OS, as does the underlying architectural shift toward isolation and credential management.
- Stability for Industrial Users: LTSC variants and robust manufacturer support extend hardware lifespan and reduce risk of business disruption for industrial and scientific users.
- Forward-Looking Support Timelines: Transparent update and EOS policies allow enterprises to plan migrations and investments with long time horizons, encouraging software ecosystem modernization and technical debt solutions.
- Integrated Update Models: Hotpatching and rapid release cycles ensure zero-day vulnerabilities are addressed faster than ever, a critical requirement in defending against ransomware and supply chain attacks.
Real and Potential Risks
- Forced Hardware Obsolescence: The leap to enforcing new baseline hardware standards with Windows 11, while justified on security grounds, effectively renders millions of perfectly serviceable devices obsolete, with environmental and financial ramifications.
- Cost of Compliance: For organizations unable to migrate quickly, the ESU program’s sharply rising prices impose a heavy penalty, particularly for small businesses or publicly funded institutions with slow refresh cycles.
- Fragmentation Risk: With enterprises running a patchwork of Windows 10 (with ESU), Windows 10/11 LTSC, and Windows 11 mainstream, plus select BSD/Linux appliances, IT departments face growing complexity managing updates, compatibility, and security across heterogeneous fleets.
- Incomplete Legacy Support: Despite improvements, a subset of legacy drivers and niche hardware lack Windows 11 compatibility, forcing organizations into either unsupported risk or major reinvestment.
Looking Forward: Strategic Choices and Industry Trends
The mandatory upgrade cycle triggered by Windows 10’s end-of-support has injected urgency — and some anxiety — into IT planning for businesses of all sizes. For home and non-enterprise users, Windows 11 represents both a security upgrade and a new hardware tax, with “secure by design” offering genuine protection but turning up the heat under those wishing to extract longer life from older PCs.For industrial and enterprise sectors, the LTSC and IoT Enterprise editions offer a welcome reprieve, delivering stability and update coverage that makes platform planning possible years into the future. Still, sustained attention to security — both from vendors and operators — is non-negotiable in an environment of rising threats and non-trivial update costs.
Savvy organizations are leveraging this transition period to modernize their fleets, incorporate containerized and web-driven architectures where possible, and establish clear, multi-year OS support roadmaps. As the sunset on Windows 10 approaches, the imperative becomes not just to upgrade for the sake of compliance, but to take full advantage of security, performance, and manageability gains that have become essential in today’s always-on, threat-rich digital environment.
Conclusion: Navigating the Transition
The impending end of Windows 10 support marks a pivotal moment in personal and enterprise computing alike. While Microsoft’s new security mandates create headwinds for legacy hardware, they also raise the bar for platform trustworthiness and resilience. Extended security updates offer only a temporary stay for the unprepared, and significant savings and operational benefits await those who are proactive.Enterprise and industrious users find themselves in an enviable position, with bespoke, long-term servicing options and hybrid OS flexibility unavailable to the mainstream. However, the lesson for all sectors is the same: frequent updates and a peace-of-mind security stance are no longer optional — they are table stakes in the modern threat landscape. For anyone planning beyond 2025, the controlled embrace of Windows 11 and its industrial cousins may be the surest path toward a secure, stable, and future-proof digital backbone.
Source: FOOD ENGINEERING Magazine Ready? Windows 10 Support Ends in 2025 but Industrial and Enterprise Users Have Options
