Latest / The Windows Podcast with Fexingo: Microsoft, PC, and Enterprise Windows Conversations / Windows 11 Is Becoming a Mandatory Update for New Hardware
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, I want to talk about a quiet deadline that a lot of enterprise IT teams are going to miss. Microsoft hasn't made a big deal about it, but as of this spring, the new PC hardware shipping from Dell, Lenovo, HP — they're all effectively Windows 11-only. Luna: Wait — do you mean they don't even ship with Windows 10 driver support anymore? Or they just don't offer it as a preload option? Lucas: Both, actually. On the preload side, the major OEMs stopped offering Windows 10 as a factory image on most commercial models back in late 2024. But the bigger shift is that the hardware itself — the chipsets, the audio controllers, the Wi-Fi modules — they're not getting Windows 10 drivers written for them at all. So if you take a brand-new Dell Latitude 5550 and try to install Windows 10 on it, you'll be missing drivers for the trackpad, the NIC, the graphics. Luna: Right — that's a hard block. You can't just 'upgrade later' if the drivers don't exist. So what's the approximate number of Windows 10 machines still out there that are going to hit a wall? Lucas: Microsoft's own data from January 2026 showed about 300 million Windows 10 devices still active. That's down from over 400 million a year ago, but it's still a massive installed base. And a lot of those are in regulated industries — healthcare, manufacturing, finance — where validation cycles are slow and Windows 11 wasn't tested thoroughly enough until recently. Luna: Three hundred million is a lot. So for those organizations, the practical question is: can they refresh hardware and stay on Windows 10, or are they locked into Windows 11 with any new purchase? Lucas: Locked in is the honest answer. And that's the tension. Windows 10 mainstream support ends in October 2025 — that's only about 17 months from now. If you haven't started your Windows 11 validation and you buy a new laptop today, you're getting Windows 11 whether you're ready or not. Luna: So you're saying the hardware cycle is forcing the OS upgrade timeline, not the other way around. That's a reversal — historically, companies waited for software to be ready before refreshing hardware. Lucas: Exactly. And if you look at the specific hardware requirements, the TPM 2.0 mandate is still a hurdle for some legacy peripherals. But the bigger issue is the processor generation floor. Windows 11 requires at least an 8th-gen Intel Core or AMD Ryzen 2000. That's from 2017. So if you have a 7th-gen machine, you can't officially upgrade — and now the new hardware doesn't support Windows 10 at all. Luna: What about the Pluton chip? I've seen that in some of the higher-end commercial laptops, like the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 and the Dell Precision 7000 series. Is that adding another layer of friction? Lucas: It is for security teams that want to manage it. Pluton is Microsoft's security co-processor, integrated into the CPU. It's designed to replace the TPM and provide better protection against physical attacks. But it's only supported in Windows 11, and it requires specific firmware policies in Intune or SCCM to configure. If you're not ready for that, you can disable it in the BIOS, but then you're giving up the security benefit you paid for. Luna: So it's another feature that works best if you're fully in the Windows 11 ecosystem. I'm wondering about the Windows 10 LTSC path — I know some organizations have used that to extend the life of older hardware. Lucas: That's a good point. Windows 10 LTSC 2021 is supported until 2031, but Microsoft has made it clear that new hardware won't be certified for it. And the LTSC channel is shifting to Windows 11 anyway. The next LTSC release, Windows 11 LTSC 2024, is expected this summer. So even the long-support crowd needs to move eventually. Luna: So what's the actual deadline for a typical enterprise? If I'm an IT director with 5,000 Windows 10 machines, when do I need to have my Windows 11 pilot done? Lucas: Realistically? You should have started six months ago. But if you're starting now, I'd say you have until the end of this year, 2026, to get at least a compatibility assessment done. Because once the new hardware arrives and you can't downgrade, you'll be forced into coexistence. And that's a management nightmare — two OSes, two update rings, two app compatibility matrices. Luna: Let's talk about the app compatibility piece specifically. What are the biggest pain points that enterprises are hitting when they test Windows 11? Lucas: The number one issue I hear about is legacy line of business applications that were built for Internet Explorer or older.NET frameworks. Windows 11 doesn't include Internet Explorer at all — it's fully disabled. So if you have a custom web app that requires ActiveX, you need to either virtualize IE or rewrite the app. Microsoft offers IE mode in Edge, but that's a stopgap and it's not supported indefinitely. Luna: And I've heard from some financial services firms that their compliance software — think trade surveillance or audit logging — is still tied to Windows 10 kernel-level hooks. Those don't work the same way in Windows 11. Lucas: Right. The kernel security changes in Windows 11, like the removal of some third-party driver signing for kernel-mode drivers, have broken certain security tools. McAfee and Symantec had to rewrite their endpoint detection agents for Windows 11. If your vendor hasn't done that, you can't upgrade. Luna: So what's your advice for a mid-size company that's still mostly on Windows 10? They're not a huge enterprise but they have maybe 500 machines. Lucas: First, do a hardware inventory. Run the PC Health Check tool on all machines to see which ones are Windows 11 capable. Second, identify your top ten critical apps and test them on a Windows 11 virtual machine. Third, budget for new hardware for any machine that fails the compatibility check — because you're not going to get Windows 10 drivers forever, and Extended Security Updates for Windows 10 will cost you per device per year after October 2025. Luna: Let's talk about those Extended Security Updates. Microsoft announced pricing for Windows 10 ESU in enterprise — it's $61 per device for the first year, doubling each year. So for 500 devices, that's over $30,000 in year one, $60,000 in year two. At some point, it's cheaper to just buy new hardware. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the math that a lot of organizations haven't done yet. They're still hoping for a last-minute reprieve or a delay. But Microsoft has been consistent: Windows 10 end of support is October 14, 2025. Barring a global emergency, that's firm. Luna: One thing I want to touch on before we wrap — there's been some movement on the Windows 11 hardware requirements themselves. I read that Microsoft might relax the 8th-gen Intel floor for certain education or enterprise SKUs. Is there any truth to that? Lucas: I've seen those rumors too, but nothing official. Microsoft did add a few 7th-gen processors to the supported list in 2023 for specific devices like the Surface Studio 2. But they haven't indicated any broad expansion. And honestly, with the new hardware all being 12th-gen or later, it's a moot point for new purchases. The issue is only for existing machines that you want to keep running. Luna: So the big message for our listeners: if you haven't tested Windows 11 on your critical applications, now is the time. The hardware refresh cycle is making the decision for you. Lucas: Absolutely. And to tie it back to something you mentioned earlier — these compatibility tools and assessments, the PC Health Check, the Test Base for Microsoft 365 — they're free. There's no excuse not to start. The cost of delaying is just going to compound. Luna: It's one of those topics where the technical details actually matter for budget planning. If today's episode gave you a concrete number or a timeline to bring to your next IT planning meeting, that's exactly what we hope for. And if you find the show useful and want to help keep it ad-free and independent, you can support us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just a quiet way to say it matters. Lucas: Yeah, we appreciate every bit of support. And honestly, even just sharing an episode with a colleague who's wrestling with this exact decision — that helps a lot too. Luna: So back to the practical side — Lucas, one last concrete suggestion for someone who's still on Windows 10 and hasn't started. Lucas: Sure. Pick one department — IT can be its own guinea pig. Get a handful of new Windows 11 machines, deploy your standard image, and run it for a month. You'll find the app issues faster than you expect, and you'll have real data to show the finance team when you ask for the hardware budget. That's the single most actionable step. Luna: That's a smart low-risk pilot. Alright, I think we've given everyone plenty to work with. Thanks for listening, and we'll be back next week with another deep dive.