Do you have one of the PCs at risk?
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Microsoft’s “looming security disaster” is worse than feared. A staggering billion Windows users are at risk as the sheer scale of the task to avoid a cybersecurity cliff edge is made clear. Not a cheerful holiday season message for anyone.
Last week I reported on Dell’s surprising message, when the leading PC maker told investors and analysts that one billion PCs are still running Windows 10. That’s twice the number we thought. 500 million of those are older devices that are not eligible for the upgrade. But another 500 million can run Windows 11 — but users have said no.
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Before the Windows stats from Dell’s earnings call started making headlines, we assumed around 250 million PCs were aged and needed to be replaced. The fact that number has now doubled is more of an issue than just those needing to hit the shops.
As XDA-Developers says, if Dell got its numbers right, “and I don’t see why it shouldn’t, not only does one third of the Windows user base not have a PC compatible with Windows 10, but a further third can upgrade to Windows 11 but have chosen not to.”
That “second part,” XDA-Developers’ Simon Batt says “is what stuns me the most, as it shows that people just don’t see upgrading as worth the hassle, even when the option to do so is sitting right in front of them.” We knew that was an issue — but not this scale.
Microsoft surprised its Windows 10 user base with a sudden u-turn on ongoing security updates, essentially offering them to all home users for free until October 2026. I said at the time that this was a mistake. The extended security updates (ESU) should have been limited to users with older PCs, others should have been mandated to upgrade.
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Absent that, we now have a messy landscape, with no public data on how many PCs running Windows 10 — home or enterprise — are enrolled for ongoing updates and how many are already at risk from cyber attacks. The cost for businesses, unlike home users, could be huge with large estates of aged Windows 10 PCs. have they skipped updates?
And so as we head into 2026, we know there’s a potential 500 million PC landfill crisis. Further advice for users to switch machines to Linux or even ChromeOS, and tracking of whether we’ll still have most of the billion affected PCs in play next fall.