Enterprises have another year before Microsoft’s support of the venerable Windows 10 operating system ends, and while business migration to Windows 11 is accelerating, there is still a lot of work to be done, according to a recent report.
According to numbers released by Lansweeper, the percentage of Windows 11 systems in businesses has jumped from 8.3% a year ago to 23.1% now, a 14% increase. However, that leaves 67.1% devices running Windows 10, whose end-of-life (EOL) comes October 14, 2025.
“While adoption has surged over the past year, the data suggests that there is still significant room for growth,” Esben Dochy, senior technical product evangelist at Lansweeper, wrote in a blog post. “As we approach the final year of support for Windows 10, we expect the rate of Windows 11 adoption to accelerate further. Many businesses will need to prioritize Windows 11 migration as one of their key projects in 2025 to ensure they remain on supported platforms beyond the Windows 10 end-of-life.”
Dochy added that “with millions of devices still on Windows 10, it’s clear that for many organizations, this migration will become a critical focus in the final stretch before support ends.”
Lansweeper, which offers IT asset management tools that let enterprises find all the assets in their IT environments, based its numbers on a look at more than 15 million Windows devices.
Microsoft, which launched Windows 11 in 2021, has been warning organizations about the need to migrate since announcing in December 2023 that it would no longer offer support for Windows 10 after October 2025, ending a 10-year run for the operating system.
Time’s Running Out
Lansweeper isn’t alone in seeing the need for enterprises to begin the migration process. In August, ControlUp, a digital workplace platform provider, sampled 750,000 enterprise Windows endpoints and found that only 18% were running the new OS, with 82% having not yet made the journey to Windows 11.
That said, of the devices that still had to be migrated, 88% had the necessary components to run Windows 11 and another 1% could be upgraded to meet the requirements. Only 11% need to be fully replaced.
“The clock is ticking for enterprises to adopt the more secure and capable Windows 11, yet many organizations are stuck, unsure about their environment’s readiness,” Simon Townsend, field CTO at ControlUp, said in a statement. “But doing nothing is not an option. With more than four in five devices still needing to make the switch, now is the time to fully assess Windows 11 readiness to ensure a seamless transition with less downtime and disruption.”
Dell, HP Expect Transition to Pick Up
System makers are hoping that happens. Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell said last month during the Citi 2024 Global TMT conference that the expected move by businesses to Windows 11 “has been delayed for sure,” but added that the refresh cycle was “going to be even bigger” because of it.
“We have a certain date with Windows 10 end-of-life, and we’re almost within a one-year window of that, and as you get in that one-year window, the enterprise IT people start screwing around and saying, ‘Oh, we better do something about this,’” he said.
Likewise, HP CEO Enrique Lores said during the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology conference that he expects enterprises to start bringing Windows 11 aboard, noting an expansive installed base of aging PCs, many of which were bought during the pandemic and needed to be replaced four to five years later.
“We also see an opportunity driven by the Windows 11 refresh that is only starting now,” Lores said. “This is behind some of the strength we see on the commercial side. Microsoft … will start discontinuing their support for the previous versions, and this always ties to the replacement and upgrade. This is going to be driving demand in the coming quarters.”
In addition, Microsoft has looked to make Windows 11 even more attractive by adding more AI features to its PCs via its Copilot capabilities.
Positive Signs
Lansweeper’s Dochy wrote that there are good signs on the horizon. That includes Windows 11 being the default OS for new devices, Microsoft’s aggressive push to get organizations to upgrade their devices, and the maturation of the operating system after three years on the market.
“Another key finding is that only 3.5% of Windows 10 devices are using Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) or Long-Term Servicing Branch (LTSB) versions,” he wrote. “This is significant, as it indicates that only a very small portion of devices will continue to be supported after the Windows 10 end-of-life date.”
That said, migrating to Windows 11 still presents challenges. There are new system requirements, including a 64-bit processor and a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 chip. In addition, the devices will need “secure boot” capabilities to ensure only trusted software is executed during starting up.
Windows comes with new features that will benefit users, Dochy wrote, but added that the transition “will certainly strain IT teams as they scramble to update devices before the Windows 10 EOL.”
