Think Microsoft Will Extend Windows 10 Support? Think Again

February 7, 2025

Later this year, Windows 10 will no longer be supported—October 15, if you want to be exact. Are you taking steps to ensure you’re upgrading away from Windows 10? If not, you might want to get on that… and consider upgrading away from Office, while you’re at it, since Microsoft is pulling support for that around the same time, too.

Again, it’s imperative that you take action now to prevent security breaches and operational issues moving forward. We want to discuss why it’s so important today.

Windows 10 is Still Incredibly Popular

In December 2024, Windows 10 was used by most individuals who utilize Microsoft products: 62.7 percent, to be specific, compared to 34.12 perent for Windows 11.

But why are these numbers so dramatically different? For one, the specs required to run Windows 11 are much more demanding than Windows 10. Hardware is expensive to implement, and it is only going to get worse in the near future, leaving most to consider the upgrade not worth it for the time being.

Of course, that’s failing to take into account the immense costs that could be associated with a security breach or disaster.

There’s No Ifs About Upgrading

On October 14, 2025, Microsoft 365 and Office applications (including Word, Teams, Outlook, OneDrive, and others) will no longer be supported on Windows 10.

Whether you’re ready or not, if you’re a part of the majority still using the aforementioned services and solutions, you’ll be left with less secure, more buggy, and less reliable tools as time goes on. User security is the primary reason Microsoft is taking such a hard stance on this issue, but Microsoft is, of course, committed to CoPilot AI as a Windows 11 feature.

Your business needs to take action now, well ahead of the Windows 10 end-of-support date, or else you’ll get left behind.

First Column IT can help your business take appropriate action, whether it’s upgrading or implementing new solutions entirely. Learn more by calling us today at (571) 470-5594.

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All Organizations Need to Take Ransomware Seriously

The headlines hyping up ransomware as a dangerous threat are not exaggerating. It really is as bad as it seems, although there is often a fair amount of embellished information on what ransomware exactly is and what it does. Let’s take some time to review what ransomware is and how your business can handle it in an appropriate way.

April 7, 2023

Tip of the Week: Protect Your Business with Strong Passwords

The prevalence of technology in even mundane, everyday tasks means that more scams are out there to take advantage of unsuspecting victims. Hackers will do everything they can to take advantage of vulnerabilities in your systems, as well as cracks in your employees’ technological know-how. One way you can take the fight to them is by reinforcing appropriate password security measures.

April 5, 2023

You’ve Been the Victim of a Cyberattack: What Do You Do Now?

If you find yourself in a position where your business has been hacked, it can be devastating for productivity and efficiency, not to mention the security of your company’s assets—personnel or otherwise. It’s quite easy for even seasoned professionals to expose themselves to these attacks, so how should you respond if you’re the one who has been hacked? That’s what we’re going to discuss today.

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