Microsoft is moving forward with it’s plans to support Windows 10 as its last operating system by extending the Windows 10 support lifetime to 2026. Microsoft refreshed the Windows support lifecycle database to signal a one-year extension to Windows 10 Enterprise after the release of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. This was designated as an LTSB build, which Microsoft has set to periodically label new upgrades as LTSB so that corporations can update as they wish, with the Anniversary update being supported for 10 years from its release.
Consumer and small business versions such as Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro will remain in support until October 2025 despite being refreshed when the Enterprise was with the Anniversary Update, otherwise known as 1607.
“The addition of a year to Windows 10 Enterprise’s lifetime validated a prediction made more than a year ago by Steve Kleynhans, a Gartner analyst who focuses on Microsoft and its operating system. “At some point [Microsoft] will have to reset the clock to start another 10 years [of support] and mark some kind of stake in the ground,” Kleynhans said in a July 2015 interview.” – Gregg Keizer for Network World
Those who adopted the original LTSB will receive security updates until October 2025. Patches however will have to be obtained with this year’s 1607 rather than the LTSB 1507.
Customers who adopted the original LTSB will receive security updates until October 2025. To obtain patches for the additional year, IT staffers will have to replace LTSB 1507 with this year’s 1607.
“Extending Windows 10 support to 2026 gives credence to Microsoft’s touting the OS as “the last version of Windows,” a phrase that, while perhaps not technically true, was meant to emphasize the software-as-a-service pivot.” – Gregg Keizer for Network World
More information on Windows 10’s support lifecycle can be found on Microsoft’s website, including dates when various versions exit “mainstream” support and when they drop off the support list.
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