The date Windows 10 is due to stop receiving updates, Oct. 14, 2025, remains the same. Upgrading to Windows 11 without meeting the hardware requirements won’t change the negative consequences of this. Nor does the update explain how users can bypass the minimum requirements, should they choose to do so.

The confusion around Microsoft updates continues. Just as it releases the last Patch Tuesday of 2024, with a new zero-day amongst 71 vulnerabilities, it also warns 400 million users they risk losing access to future security fixes if they update their PCs.

With the end date for Windows 10 less than a year away, people still using that operating system will need to start preparing to enter the Windows 11 era. And Microsoft is placing a hardware requirement on the current OS that could pose a problem for those of us using older machines.

Microsoft just closed out its Patch Tuesday updates for 2024 by releasing fixes for 72 security flaws across its software portfolio: 17 rated Critical, 52 rated Important and one rated Moderate, and one that has been actively exploited in the wild.

Yesterday was the last Patch Tuesday of 2024, and with it Microsoft has provided a number of security updates, eliminating 71 security vulnerabilities across various Microsoft apps and services. Microsoft categorizes 16 of these vulnerabilities as “critical” and classifies all but one of the remaining issues as “high risk.