Potential E-Waste surge as microsoft ends support for 240 million Windows 10 PCs

Delhi : A recent study asserted that 240 million personal computers may become electronic trash as a result of Microsoft's plan to discontinue support for Windows 10, ultimately ending up in landfills. As consumers get ready for another refresh cycle, Microsoft's Windows 11 will help sustain the faltering PC market. However, Canalys data indicates that the discontinuation of Windows 10 support may prevent hundreds of millions of devices from receiving a second chance at life.

Roughly a quarter of devices will become e-waste because they are incompatible with the Windows 11 OS over the nearly two years before Microsoft's official end-of-support date for Windows 10, which is October 14, 2025, according to Canalys' estimations. That works out to 240 million PCs. According to the report, "if all of these were folded laptops stacked one on top of the other, the pile would be 600 km taller than the moon."

Microsoft announced in early December that Extended Security Updates for Windows 10 will be accessible for a cost that is not yet known each year, through October 2028. Microsoft is not new to this strategy; from January 2023 to January 2023, it also provided paid Extended Security Updates for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. As to the paper, "Even though extended support can extend the life of Windows 11-ineligible PCs, many users will likely find the cost of these security updates to be a barrier."

For Windows 7, the first year of extended support started at $25 per PC, while the third and last year of extended security updates came with a fourfold price increase to $100 yearly.

If in good shape, the majority of these 240 million PCs could at least be recycled, but their incompatibility with the most recent version of Windows severely diminishes their worth as parts for restoration and resale. "Demand for devices no longer supported by Microsoft will be minimal—even companies with the tightest IT budgets will be deterred by the lack of free and ongoing security updates," the report stated. However, many of the 240 million PCs will still remain functional for years to come.