By Antony May
There is nothing new in Microsoft stopping support and updates for their operating systems, the only ones currently supported are Windows 10 and 11.
However, keeping your devices on a supported operating system may be more difficult when support ends on Windows 10 in October next year.
When versions of Windows have their support ended, there has always been the option to upgrade to the latest version at no cost and while that is an option with the upgrade to Windows 11, there are also some hardware requirements around hard drive encryption. Many computers that are over 5 years old do not have the required hardware and are not able to be upgraded, leaving them stuck on Windows 10.
This presents a challenge for businesses, running unsupported operating systems poses a security risk and will affect any security accreditations you may have/want like CyberEssentials.
The first thing to do is an audit of your operating system licences. Check what versions of Windows you have and that you have the business (Pro) version where applicable. On devices that are running Windows 10, you can check if they can be upgraded to Windows 11 by typing ‘update’ into the search at the bottom left of the screen and opening the ‘Check for updates’ app. Here you will either have a prompt to update to Windows 11 or a message that reads “This PC doesn’t currently meet the minimum system requirements to run Windows 11”.
If you have devices that cannot be upgraded, then Auditel can help! Using our relationships, we can assist with the purchasing of new hardware and the disposal of the old hardware to minimise the environmental impact of the changes. We also have experienced CyberEssentials practitioners who can review your current security measures and help with accreditations, as well as carrying out the licence audit to identify where action may be needed.
