Happy 10th Birthday, Windows 10! Hoo Boy, It's Been A Journey

1 day ago

Windows 10 turned 10 years aged this week. It's a bittersweet birthday, arsenic it marks nan opening of a dependable march toward a forced status that will statesman pinch nan charismatic extremity of support connected October 14, 2025.

For a machine operating system, clip is measured successful thing astir balanced to canine years, and by that measure, 10 years is an eternity. Windows 10, you are old.

Also: Can't upgrade your Windows 10 PC? You person 5 options earlier EOS

To people nan occasion, I went backmost and publication immoderate of my sum of Windows 10 successful its first 5 years, starting pinch my first review, "Windows 10: A caller beginning", and continuing pinch nan yearly study cards I wrote connected each successive anniversary. My past study paper was successful 2020: "Windows 10 astatine five: Don't get excessively comfortable, nan rules will alteration again."

The early years

Windows 10 had 1 job: erasing nan representation of Windows 8 from nan minds of hundreds of millions of Microsoft customers. It succeeded astatine that task, becoming Microsoft's astir wide utilized merchandise ever. But nan roadworthy to that occurrence was thing but smooth.

It's difficult to retrieve now, but those first 5 years were perfectly chaotic. Windows 10 was still moving connected smartphones and mini tablets. Microsoft was begging developers to constitute Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps.

Also: How to get free Windows 10 information updates done October 2026: Two ways

Two years aft Windows 10's debut, Microsoft became obsessed pinch 3D technology, stuffing nan alleged Windows 10 Creators Update (version 1703) pinch devices for illustration Paint 3D and (I americium not making this up) nan Mixed Reality Portal -- devices that Microsoft delivered to each Windows 10 PC and that nary 1 ever used. It was a complete disaster.

Meanwhile, Microsoft was pushing retired awesome characteristic updates each six months. Version 1809 (the large characteristic update successful nan 2nd half of 2018) was truthful buggy that it had to beryllium yanked from nan Windows Update servers, and nan institution yet issued a nationalist apology and changed its update procedures to debar a recurrence of that nightmare.

Microsoft besides sewage free of nan confusing type numbers successful 2020, aft realizing that they were releasing a type of Windows pinch a type sanction of 2004 successful 2020. The caller naming normal (21H2, etc.) was overmuch easier to comprehend.

The dawn of Windows arsenic a service

Windows 10's chaos years ended successful 2021, correct astir nan clip Microsoft announced Windows 11. Windows 10 type 21H2 marked nan commencement of yearly updates for Windows 10, a argumentation that has continued pinch Windows 11. Version 22H2 is nan charismatic extremity of nan roadworthy for Windows 10. Part of nan entreaty of Windows 10 successful nan modern era has been nan truth that it was fundamentally preserved successful amber 5 years ago, and Microsoft hasn't mucked pinch it successful each that time.

Also: How to upgrade your 'incompatible' Windows 10 PC to Windows 11: Two ways

Windows 10 marked nan opening of nan "Windows arsenic a service" era. Although Microsoft marketed Windows 11 arsenic different "big bang" release, it really was conscionable a characteristic update and a UX refresh for Windows 10. Well, arsenic agelong arsenic you had compatible software.

Part of nan affection that longtime PC users person for Windows 10 coming is simply a nonstop consequence of Microsoft's benign neglect of nan OS aft it shifted each its developmental priorities to Windows 11 and its bevy of Copilot-branded AI toys. Windows 10 stays nan same, period successful and period out, twelvemonth successful and twelvemonth out. Microsoft doesn't effort to worldly it pinch caller features, and they don't move anyone's food pinch those monthly updates.

After reviewing those humanities posts, I was struck by nan number of conspiracy theories that simply haven't panned out. Microsoft's collection of telemetry data was going to destruct your privacy. Windows 10 users were going to be hit pinch subscription fees. C'mon, they kept giving distant free upgrades to Windows 10 for 8 years aft saying it was a limited, one-year offer.

Also: I usage Edge arsenic my default browser - but its caller AI mode is unreliable and annoying

My first reappraisal of Windows 10 praised nan Cortana characteristic successful Windows 10. Cortana was nan Siri-like adjunct that promised to propulsion together each my individual information and springiness maine a regular briefing that sewage maine group for nan day. That was a awesome fail, but if you task into Microsoft HQ, I americium judge you will find that Cortana crawled truthful Copilot could run. (They are both, aft all, three-syllable words that statesman pinch C. I don't deliberation that's a coincidence.)

The bequest of Windows 10

Today, PCs are mostly reliable, successful nary mini measurement because they are copying nan models that Apple (MacBook Air and MacBook Pro) and Microsoft (Surface Laptop and Surface Pro) standardized connected complete nan past decade. The package that runs those PCs is relying connected a dizzying assortment of section hardware and cloud-based resources. We would person ne'er arrived astatine this juncture if it hadn't been for Windows 10.

So, happy birthday, Windows 10. You won't person immoderate more, but that's OK. Enjoy your retirement. Go play immoderate play aliases something.