Consumer Reports has slapped directly at Microsoft’s Windows 10 end-of-support plan, paradoxically calling for the company to extend free security updates to those who can’t migrate to Windows 11. The policy will “orphan” millions of people on perfectly capable machines that Windows 11’s hardware checks fail, nudging users toward risky workarounds, paid patches and early retirement for their hardware, argues the nonprofit in a letter addressed to CEO Satya Nadella.
The group claims the Microsoft transition has become a “mess” for regular consumers: Windows 11’s restrictive hardware demands clashed with a still-mammoth Windows 10 user base, stranding a bunch of hardware in upgrade limbo. CR frames the issue as more than just a hassle—it’s an issue of consumer protection, environmental quality and, ultimately, cybersecurity all rolled into one.
Why the reaction is so strong among Windows 10 users
Windows 11 brought a hard line on hardware: Trusted Platform Module 2.0, newer generation of processors and other requirements that lock out many PCs sold just a few years ago. The upshot is that machines still doing fine—and which were bought with the expectation of a long service life—are now shut out of a free, in-place upgrade path.
That change reduces the practical support horizon of a huge number of machines to pretty much nil. What many buyers thought would be a decade of operating system support is now looking less than that, not because the hardware’s failed, but because it missed a moving target when it comes to system requirements.
The numbers in the complaint from Consumer Reports
(Consumer Reports cites a survey of more than 100,000 laptop and desktop owners among its members to conclude that over 95 percent of computers purchased in recent years are still in use.) Folks keep PCs for longer periods, particularly Windows-based systems, and they want their software supported for the same duration.
Public Interest Research Group has calculated that as many as 400 million working PCs would be sidelined due to not meeting the Windows 11 hardware bar. Environmental groups, some of which are also demanding that right to repair measure be incorporated into the Green Deal framework under development for the EU, have also backed the call — warning of “unsustainable and accelerating obsolescence” leading to e-waste. Tens of millions of tonnes of e-waste are produced annually, according to the United Nations, with a minority being recycled in an environmentally friendly way—highlighting the stakes when categories of large device fall off support sooner than they should.
Security exposure and selling patches to consumers
“Microsoft’s model has forced companies to make an extremely difficult choice, either pay for Extended Security Updates, purchase a new PC with Windows 10 Pro or run potentially unsecure systems in order to avoid paying $200 to upgrade,” CR writes. The organization emphasizes consumer complaints about out-of-pocket costs—pointing to $30 for a one-year extension in its letter—and that basic security protections shouldn’t be paywalled by blockware to capable hardware owners. Program and edition pricing varies, but the optics differ: selling vital patches risks leaving exposed devices undefended.
The security implications apply to more than just individual users. Unpatched machines can be lucrative prey for botnet operators and ransomware crews. Previous episodes like WannaCry have illustrated how even outdated systems can be weaponized at scale. And United States cybersecurity officials have warned in recent months that using outdated operating systems significantly heightens the risk of compromise, representing collateral damage for businesses, schools and public infrastructure.
What Consumer Reports wants from Microsoft now
Consumer Reports is calling on Microsoft to grant free security updates for Windows 10 users who will be left behind on Windows 11 due to hardware limitations, with the organization also urging the feature push rather than penalties. The group also calls for a formal partnership to provide easy, zero-cost recycling for users who do decide to retire their older machines.
Practically speaking, that might involve extending free critical and important security patches for one more granular-release cycle; separating necessary feature upgrades from vital security fixes; and providing documentation to separate which mitigations will work when back-ported to (as opposed to ignored by) Windows 10.
Such steps would help eliminate e-waste, cut collective cyber risk and keep the goodwill of loyal Windows users.
Microsoft’s calculus — and how to get to a truce
Microsoft has consistently positioned Windows 11 as a security-first release, with modern chips and technologies like TPM 2.0 helping it fend off today’s threats.
That strategy has some merit, but it doesn’t solve the reality that in the near term there exists a huge Windows 10 population who are being broken for no reason other than that their existing hardware works just fine.
A compromise is within reach. The free and temporary release of Windows 10 security updates for users who are stranded by minimum hardware requirements—combined with a strong trade-in and recycling program—is fully in line with consumer protection and sustainability goals, without undermining the adoption of Windows 11. Because of the size of Windows 10’s installed base and the reputational pull of Consumer Reports — not to mention the groaning maximum legal weight that they are almost certainly capable of bringing to bear on Microsoft here in western Washington State, home court advantage for Redmond or no — this is a moment for Microsoft to prove with action that long-term trust counts just as much toward uplift as short-term upgrade-key counting.