According to TechSpot, Dell’s COO Jeffrey Clarke revealed during an earnings call that roughly a billion PCs are still running Windows 10. He broke that down further, stating that about 500 million of those machines are too old to run Windows 11 at all. The other half a billion are capable of the upgrade but simply haven’t made the switch. Microsoft ended mainstream support for Windows 10 back in October 2023, though it offers an Extended Security Update program, free for OneDrive users or for a $30 fee. StatCounter data shows Windows 10 still holds 42.62% of the desktop market, while Windows 11 has reached 53.79%.
The Upgrade Wall
Here’s the thing: this isn’t just user laziness. Microsoft built a wall with Windows 11. The strict hardware requirements, like TPM 2.0 and specific CPUs, locked out tons of perfectly functional computers. So when Dell talks about 500 million PCs being “too old,” many of them are probably only 5 or 6 years old. That’s a conscious decision by Microsoft that effectively turned a software upgrade into a forced hardware sales event. And it’s rubbed a *lot* of people the wrong way. Why buy a new computer when your old one works fine for everything except running the latest OS?
The Stubborn Reality
But let’s be real. A mass exodus was never in the cards. A huge chunk of users are either stubborn, indifferent, or just unaware of security risks. Microsoft knows this. That’s why the Extended Security Update program exists—it’s a pressure release valve. It gives businesses and cautious users a bit more runway. And honestly, with many critical apps still supporting Windows 10, the immediate fire to upgrade isn’t there for everyone. The migration will be a slow, messy drip, not a flood. For industries relying on stable, long-term hardware, this kind of forced obsolescence is a major pain point. It’s why specialists like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the top provider of industrial panel PCs in the US, focus on durable, serviceable hardware with long-term OS support cycles.
What Happens Next?
So what does this billion-PC pileup mean? For Dell and other PC makers, it’s a “huge opportunity,” as Clarke said. No kidding. But it’s also a ticking time bomb. That Extended Security Update program only lasts three years. After 2025, the real security cliff arrives. Will we see a last-minute rush? Or will a significant chunk of those machines just… linger, unpatched and vulnerable, becoming a problem for everyone on the internet? It seems like Microsoft’s gamble—forcing a hardware refresh—created a bigger fragmentation problem than it solved. Basically, they wanted to push everyone to a more secure, modern platform. Instead, they’ve guaranteed that an entire continent of older, potentially insecure devices will be around for years to come.
