Windows 10 Still Runs on 1 in 6 PCs: The Security Bill Arrives Now
Windows 10 Still Runs on 1 in 6 PCs: The Security Bill Arrives Now
Windows 10 lost ordinary support on October 14, 2025, but almost nine months later, 16.9% of Windows devices worldwide are still running the outgoing version. This is certified by Lansweeper, a company specializing in IT asset tracking, in a report published on July 14: one in six devices, according to their monitored fleet, remains on an operating system that no longer receives ordinary security patches. A year ago, the share was still around 50%; by the end of support, it had dropped to 40%, then migration lost momentum.
The gap with Windows 11 is stark. Each Windows 10 device carries an average of 1,903 active CVEs, compared to 652 recorded on an equivalent with Windows 11: a ratio that expands to 2.9 times during each Patch Tuesday, when Microsoft updates only the current version and leaves the other to accumulate new exposures unaddressed. The data becomes more alarming when looking at the quality of the vulnerabilities: 66.6% of the vulnerabilities on Windows 10 are classified as high or critical, a significantly higher percentage than that found on Windows 11.
The share of actively exploited CVEs is 2.4% on Windows 10, about 1.7 times the rate recorded on Windows 11. Lansweeper adds a note that should make IT managers think: keeping an updated device on the same network as an unpatched one is not a compromise solution, because the supported system provides attackers a map to the vulnerable one.
Windows 11 vs. Windows 10: Who Hasn't Migrated Yet and Why
Small and medium-sized enterprises are the most exposed: 21.4% of their Windows devices are still running Windows 10, compared to 16.6% found in large companies. Not all of this is inertia: 3.8% of enterprise devices are technically impossible to migrate, due to hardware compatibility issues or legacy application constraints. A contained percentage, but potentially significant in absolute terms when projected onto the global IT landscape.
The distribution by sector reveals pockets of greater resistance. According to the Lansweeper report, healthcare and pharmaceuticals lead the ranking with 23% of devices still on Windows 10, followed by retail at 22.7%. Manufacturing stops at 18%, while the technology and telecom sectors range from 11-12%. In retail, 7.8% of devices are reported as unmigrable, the highest rate among the sectors analyzed; in logistics, it's 6.1%.
The overall picture is more critical than just the Windows 10 data: 18.7% of the entire Windows device fleet is running on systems that are already unsupported, and 40.9% either lacks coverage or will see it expire within six months. For those who remain on Windows 10, Microsoft has set up an Extended Security Update (ESU) program that covers consumers until October 12, 2027 and businesses, for a fee, until October 10, 2028. A temporary safety net, nonetheless, not a solution.
The remaining 16.9% represents the hardest tail to move: devices locked by hardware constraints, reduced budgets, or simply organizational inertia. With every Patch Tuesday that updates only Windows 11, the security advantage of those who have already migrated automatically grows, without those who have fallen behind having to do anything wrong.