Windows 10 has finally reached its end of support after the release of Patch Tuesday updates a couple of hours ago. This means that the operating system will not receive anymore feature or security updates from Microsoft, unless you opt for the Extended Security Update (ESU) program. However, regardless of whether you go for ESU or not, you"ll be offered at least some protections through one way.
Microsoft has clarified that Microsoft Defender will continue to receive updates even on legacy systems like Windows 10 to the "extent possible". What this means is that detection and protection capabilities will continue to be added, but if they rely on features not present in Windows 10, then they won"t really make an impact. So you"re inherently less secure than you would be as compared to a supported system, but it"s still better than not having any security at all. This isn"t really surprising because Microsoft Defender for Endpoint supports Windows versions much older than Windows 10 already.
Similarly, here is an update for customers who use Windows 10 without Defender:
For Windows 10 customers without Defender, Microsoft will continue to provide security intelligence updates for the built-in Microsoft Defender Antivirus protection through October 2028. Of course, Defender Antivirus alone isn"t a comprehensive risk mitigation posture without Microsoft Defender detection and response deployed across your digital estate.
That said, Microsoft has strongly recommended customers to upgrade to Windows 11 to stay as secure as they can. If that is not possible, the next best option is Windows 10 with ESU, as it will at least guarantee the delivery of security updates, which may be critical for protection. Do keep in mind that enterprise customers who leverage Windows 10 to access Windows 11 Cloud PCs through the Windows 365 service get ESU at no extra cost.