Windows 10 will reach end of support (EOS) on October 14, 2025, less than two years from today.  While two years may seem like a lot of time, upgrading your school’s devices now will help your organization stay focused on learning outcomes and protect educational data without interruption.   

For nearly a decade, you’ve helped shape the learning experiences of countless students and educators with Windows 10. We wish to express our gratitude and appreciation for the ways you’ve used Windows 10 to empower learners, leaders, and intuitions to transform education. Thank you for being an integral part of our mission to enable equitable education for all. 

We encourage you to transition to Windows 11 sooner than later, and we’re here to help you plan your move. Learn about the options you have to smoothly transition to Windows 11, including extended protection for Windows 10 devices that may need more time to transition.   

What does Windows 10 end of support mean?

End of support means that Microsoft will no longer provide bug fixes for issues, security fixes for vulnerabilities, time zone updates, or technical support for problems that might occur.   

As noted on the Windows 10 release information page, version 22H2 is the final version of Windows 10. All editions of Windows 10, version 22H2 will remain in support with monthly security updates through October 14, 2025.    

Transition from Windows 10 to Windows 11 to meet your needs 

Windows 11 helps every learner do their best work with easy-to-use tools built right in and ready to go from the first day—all in a secure and trusted environment. Windows 11 security features are enabled by default, providing protection for your school’s devices and peace of mind. The accessibility features and AI improvements built into Windows 11 help educators personalize learning and meet the needs of all students.  

In addition to upgrading eligible PCs to Windows 11 using  Microsoft Intune, your options to adopt Windows 11 include:  

• Upgrade eligible PCs to Windows 11.  
• Purchase new modern Windows 11 Pro PCs.  
• Move to Windows 11 on a Cloud PC with Windows 365.    

As we continue to develop Windows 11 for education, along with a wide range of devices from our partners, we remain dedicated to creating products that help all students access the tools and support they need to explore new opportunities and succeed in their learning. Find the perfect learning device at a low cost from Microsoft Education.  

Windows 11 helps every learner do their best work with easy-to-use tools built right in and ready to go from the first day.    

Take advantage of the Extended Security Update program for Windows 10 

We encourage you to switch to Windows 11, but we recognize that some situations might not allow you to upgrade your Windows 10 devices before the EOS date. For this reason, Microsoft will provide Extended Security Updates (ESU). The ESU for Windows 10 is designed to provide you with peace of mind as you migrate to Windows 11 and identify Windows 10 PCs that need more time to transition.   

• Devices enrolled in ESU can receive monthly security updates but no feature or other updates.  
• Similar to the Windows 7 ESU program, you will be able to purchase yearly subscriptions to security updates, renewable for up to three years.  
• Windows 365 customers, as well as those that run Windows 10 in an Azure Virtual Desktop, will receive ESU at no additional charge.   

To help you plan a successful transition, we’re offering special education pricing for the Windows 10 ESU program:  

• ESU pricing¹ for Microsoft education customers will be $1 per license for the first year, $2 the following year, and $4 the third year to ensure institutions receive the support they need.    
• This offer is extended to all education customers, including K-12 and Higher Education.   

We know educators and students have experienced great benefits with Windows 10 and there’s even more to love with Windows 11, including built-in accessibility features on devices that are secure, easy to deploy, and manage. We look forward to helping you plan your transition to Windows 11 and supporting you on your journey.   

We’ll continue to share updates about Windows 10 EOS and in the meantime, visit Lifecycle FAQ for Windows for more details. Additionally, more information on the ESU program will be shared later as availability and Windows 10 EOS approach. Read the Tech Community Blog on Windows 10 EOS or our visit the Windows Tech Community for more details on ESU enrollment. Looking for support? Visit Windows on Microsoft Q&A.  

Microsoft 365, Windows devices, and comprehensive security combine to help schools and classrooms worldwide accelerate learning, improve efficiency, and enable equitable education. Learn about a suite of products that provide a comprehensive solution for everyone at your school, from educators to students to admins.    

¹All prices are in US dollars and accurate as of April 2024. Regional prices will vary based on foreign exchange rates at the moment of ordering SKUs. 

The post Windows 10 end of support updates for education appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

Educators prepare students today, for the world that they’ll face tomorrow. And, as the past few years have taught us, what the future may hold is anybody’s guess. This is why educators deserve powerful, intuitive, and adaptable tools, like Windows 11, to ensure that all students, regardless of their needs or abilities, can thrive in the classroom and beyond.

Solutions built specifically for education

To better support today’s educators, Microsoft reimagined the Windows platform to help them unlock the full potential of every student with safe and engaging student-centered technology that prioritizes equity and accessibility. The new Windows 11 for Education provide a simple, accessible environment on devices that are secure, easy to deploy and manage, and perform well across the changing conditions of a school year. 

In addition, Windows 11 SE devices offer the accessibility, familiarity, performance, and security of Windows 11, in an environment designed for K-8 students. With simplified experiences and curated apps, Windows 11 SE supports younger learners on affordable devices that are pre-configured for student privacy and enabled for remote management through Microsoft Intune for Education.

Top 5 reasons educators love Windows 11

1. Accessibility features at no extra cost  

Since every student has unique learning needs, the built-in accessibility features on Windows 11—such as live captions, voice access, Immersive Reader, and Focus sessions—are designed for seamless inclusion. The wide range of affordable, personalized Windows 11 devices were created to support students’ neurodiversity and their differences in vision, hearing, and mobility.

New Mexico’s Las Cruces Public Schools district, for example, deployed 25,000 Windows-based devices with Intune for Education to better support the 7 percent of their students classified as economically disadvantaged and the 14 percent of their students classified as learners with disabilities. These devices empower students to improve and succeed in their academic journey regardless of their needs or abilities.

Deploying [these] devices to everyone helped to level the playing field. We are many years ahead of the game now. We were pushed to think of alternative ways of teaching and to make sure all our students were engaged. Their capabilities are mind-blowing for me and for the students.”

Maggie Romero, Chemistry teacher, Las Cruces Public Schools

2. AI-powered security to block unsafe apps  

Windows 11 now includes Smart App Control. Users can download apps with confidence, knowing that AI-powered security blocks malicious software, while enhanced threat detection tools alert them to potential phishing scams when malicious apps or hacked websites request their logins. This means schools can prevent identity theft and protect school data and student privacy while offering administrators, educators, and students flexibility in choosing apps.

Windows 11 SE offers even more app control since students cannot install or uninstall applications. To help educators keep instruction more focused on learning objectives, Windows 11 SE limits app installs to content-filtering, test-taking, accessibility, classroom communications, diagnostics, management, connectivity and support apps.

3. Future-proof technology skills  

Windows 11 helps students thrive in tomorrow’s world. With Windows 11, students get a new, simplified interface with tools and features to help them stay focused and organized. 

The new File Explorer in Windows 11 lets students organize files and switch between folders with ease. Students and educators can create folders in the Start menu, then drag and drop the apps they need to stay organized and focused on learning. The new Favorites section is the perfect place to pin students’ most used files to better organize and track work. Windows 11 also offers new Intelligent Actions—smart tips such as writing suggestions and search recommendations—to help students hone skills as they learn and create.

Texas City Independent School District is driving 21^st century education and robust collaboration with Microsoft Education solutions. Using Microsoft 365, their educators can prioritize curriculum that helps students solve increasingly complex problems beyond the classroom while ensuring that they learn the skills that empower them as digital citizens. Their goal: support students beyond a course’s final grade or an impending standardized test.

What do our students need to know about technology to be prepared to make valuable contributions when they leave our schools? If you don’t use Microsoft products, you are not prepared for the workforce. The other options don’t prepare our students for the real world, and they don’t develop digital citizenship skills.”

Gina Covington, Chief Technology Officer, Texas City Independent School District

Read more about this district’s success using Microsoft 365.

4. Online and offline productivity  

Educators and students enjoy both online and offline productivity backed up by the cloud. Windows 11 works seamlessly with cloud services so information and apps are easily accessible anytime, anywhere. It’s simple to sync files with OneDrive for easy backup, secure sharing, and almost limitless storage.

5. Easy efficiency for self-managed work

Windows 11 SE offers cloud-only storage, making it easy for students to find their work. With its Start menu front and center on the screen, students can easily find the files and apps they need. Also new to Windows 11 SE, voice search, powered by natural language, helps students quickly find what they’re looking for.

Focus—a new feature of the Clock app—allows students and educators to start a Focus session and complete tasks faster, without distractions to be more productive. Snap layouts and automatic redocking help students and educators better organize what’s on their screen. Using click or touch, students and educators can choose one layout for math and another for writing or grading papers. New interactive touch controls in Windows 11 make interacting with a device more natural. Students and educators can work the way they prefer including multi-finger gestures, voice typing, or digital inking.

Students love Windows 11 too  

Ruggedized and spill-proof construction helps students keep their devices safe no matter what the school day throws at them. Students can also work and create all day on a single battery charge¹ so they are prepared whenever and wherever learning happens. Windows 11 keeps them connected with their peers and teachers over Wi-Fi and LTE/5G and offers smooth collaboration with smarter video conferencing features like HD cameras and noise cancelling microphones.²

With Microsoft Ink, a fun, new feature, students and teachers can use a digital pen to write or draw in multiple apps on an ink and touch-enabled device. Microsoft Ink works seamlessly across OneNote, Windows, Microsoft Edge, and familiar learning apps in Microsoft 365³ as well as a selection of third-party apps. Windows 11 SE also allows students to express themselves with over 500 fun digital desktop stickers!

Microsoft’s powerful and versatile Windows 11 tools and features work online and offline, making education safe and more productive, and offer fun and engaging ways to express ideas. Learn more about how Windows 11 for Education can transform teaching and learning.

¹ Battery life varies based on settings, usages, and other factors.

² Hardware dependent.

³ Requires Microsoft 365 for Education subscription, which may be sold separately.

The post Top reasons why teachers and students love using Windows 11 appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

Providing continuity of learning in low and intermittent connectivity scenarios

Millions of students have limited access to the internet at home, leaving them struggling to access interactive online lessons and forcing them to find offline workarounds on devices lacking storage for video and other resources. Today, devices and education technology tools are more integrated into education than ever before, and learning opportunities happen not just at school, but at home and everywhere in between. In this landscape, the ability to work online and offline is key so that learning can continue regardless of a student’s ability to connect to the internet.

In the third in a series of Accelerate Learning Kits from Microsoft Education, “Accelerating Learning for Students with Limited Internet Access,” the authors compare how Microsoft Windows 11 devices and Chromebooks support offline access to educational content and material. Their finding: when comparing based on factors such as access to learning content, accessibility, on-device storage, and the ability to create and edit content, they found that Windows 11 devices provide a better experience for learners than the equivalent experiences on Google Chrome OS.

In a study conducted by Michigan State University in 2020, researchers found that students who have no home access or rely upon cell phone data plans have the digital skills equivalent of a three-year deficit when compared to their peers with home internet access¹.”

According to UNICEF, up to 1.3 billion children and young people worldwide have no access to internet at home². This issue disproportionately affects students of color, those living in poverty, and in rural communities. Additionally, a 2020 study by Michigan State University found that students who have limited or no internet access at home can fall up to three years behind classmates with full access, have a lower grade point average, score lower on college admissions tests like the SAT, and are less likely to pursue a college degree.³ This highlights the importance of ensuring that students have equitable access to tools and that there’s flexibility for those who may not have consistent access to the internet outside of school. 

For the latest Microsoft learning kit comparing Windows 11 devices and Chromebooks, researchers created a learning scenario in which they used identical versions of a presentation to compare the process a student would complete to access and edit learning materials while disconnected from the internet. This included setting up offline access to the file, disconnecting the internet connection, opening and making changes to the presentation, and then reconnecting and accessing the updated online file. The comparison of the Windows 11 and Chromebook processes can help educators see some of the benefits Windows 11 devices deliver for students, including simpler and faster setup of offline capabilities.

Evaluators noted that in the side-by-side test, Microsoft Office was a faster, easier, and richer experience for students than the comparable solution. Beyond simply editing and saving files, students with limited online access can benefit from using the built-in flexibility of features such as translation and Accessibility Checker, which work online or offline.

Since schools made the unexpected and rapid shift to online instruction in 2020, existing inequities in connectivity have highlighted the challenges of making sure that all students can participate in digital learning. Microsoft Education is committed to developing solutions to advance equity in learning. And the built-in, accessible, equitable, easy-to-use tools in the Microsoft Office suite provide students the opportunity to focus on learning and explore their academic interests without having to worry about connectivity.

Want to learn more?

The learning kit “Accelerating Learning for Students with Limited Internet Access” is available now, and contains the comparative paper as well as an abstract and an infographic. You can also explore two other Microsoft Education Accelerate Learning Kits: “Checking for Accessibility” and “Accelerate Learning with Workplace Math Skills.”  Stay tuned for the next kit in the series, which will be shared soon!

¹ Broadband and Student Performance Gaps

² The Learning Passport

³ Broadband and Student Performance Gaps

The post Accelerating learning for students with limited internet access appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

In November, we hosted Microsoft Reimagine, where we shared with the world new technology that can empower educators and unlock new possibilities for all learners. We announced a new edition of Windows 11—Windows 11 SE—and an ecosystem of devices coming from Microsoft and our OEM partners, including the new Surface Laptop SE.

Today, I’m pleased to announce that Windows 11 SE devices are becoming available to order through education channels.. This portfolio includes the Surface Laptop SE and new Windows 11 Pro EDU as well as Windows 11 SE devices, starting at $249, from our partners at Acer, ASUS, Dell, Dynabook, Fujitsu, HP, JP-IK, Lenovo and Positivo—powered by Intel and AMD. This is our largest collection of purpose-built software and devices for K-12 education ever, demonstrating our commitment to addressing the current and future needs of students, educators, and schools. You can learn more in this blog post about our partner devices being announced today.

Windows 11 SE devices complement our broader portfolio of Windows 11 devices for education. They provide even more choices for schools to have the tools, insights, and controls they need to deliver optimal learning experiences, at a price that broadens access to Microsoft performance, security, and reliability. With the Windows 11 ecosystem and Microsoft 365¹, applications are accessible both online and offline, allowing all students access to the best opportunities to learn from anywhere. These apps include built-in features and tools that prioritize inclusive learning, such as Reading Progress, Education Insights, Immersive Reader and Microsoft Translator. In addition to these first-party experiences designed for learning, Windows 11 devices for education offer support for third-party apps to ensure educators, students, and schools can stay productive with the tools that work best for them.

As we deliver new Windows 11 experiences for education, including this expanded device portfolio from our partners, we remain committed to building products that ensure all students have access to the tools and support needed to unlock new possibilities and thrive within and beyond the classroom.

¹ Microsoft 365 subscription sold separately

The post Introducing Our New Windows 11 Device Portfolio for Education appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.