Microsoft to drop support for original version of Windows 10 next month

Windows 10 officially launched back on July 29, 2015. It’s been nearly 2 years since the original version of Windows 10 was released, and Microsoft released some fairly major upgrades to the OS to make it even better over the past two years. To date, Microsoft released 3 major feature updates for Windows 10, and the 3rd update started rolling out just earlier this week.

Redmond is, however, dropping support for the original version of Windows 10 next month. Starting May 9, Windows 10 Version 1507 will no longer receive any security or quality updates from Microsoft. The end of service is affecting 4 different SKUs of Windows 10, including Pro, Enterprise, Home, and Education.

Microsoft was actually supposed to end support for the original version of Windows 10 late last month, but that eventually got pushed to May. Microsoft explained in a support page that the only way to continue receiving updates on Windows 10 is to update to a newer version of the OS. To continue getting updates, users will have to upgrade to a newer version of Windows 10 such as version 1511 (“November Update”), version 1607 (“Anniversary Update”) or version 1703 (“Creators Update”) — which is the latest version of the OS.

After May 9, 2017, Windows 10 devices running version 1507 will no longer receive security and quality updates. Microsoft recommends updating devices to the latest version of Windows 10 by visiting the Software Download site and selecting Update now to manually update your device.

Of course, you can choose not to upgrade to the latest version of Windows 10 and stick to the original one — but that comes with a lot of issues. For one, you are going to miss out on a lot of security fixes, making your PC more open to security threats. Additionally, you’ll also be missing out on some of the major new security features and other improvements Microsoft added to Windows 10 over the past few years. Even though upgrading an OS can be quite a hassle especially when it’s powering corporate systems, it’s still worth upgrading to the latest version of Windows 10 for all the security enhancements.