mevans/E+ via Getty
Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.
ZDNET's key takeaways
Most PCs from the past 15 years can run Windows 11.
PCs sold with Windows 10 can usually upgrade after a registry edit.
On older or unusually configured PCs, a third-party utility can work.
Are you the PC expert in your family? If you're traveling home for the holidays, your relatives will inevitably ask you for help with that computer they're absolutely unwilling to replace, because it still works just fine. Assuming it's less than 10 years old and has sufficient memory and storage, then it probably is worth keeping.
But if it's a Windows PC, one of the first things you should check is which version it's running. Does the System > About page say Windows 10? Then they really need your help.
On Oct. 14, 2025, Microsoft officially ended support for Windows 10. That old PC will no longer receive security updates unless you enroll it in the Extended Security Updates program. For anyone still running Windows 10, they're already two months behind, having missed the important security updates that were delivered in the November and December Patch Tuesday drops. Trust me -- you really don't want to be doing anything on a PC that's missing months of security updates.
So, it's time to upgrade, right? Unfortunately, that's not an easy assignment.
... continue reading