The end of Windows 10 support is getting closer, and it's normal to have some questions about how to proceed from there. Especially if you don't intend to, or can't, upgrade to Windows 11, but want to know what will happen to all the programs you have installed.
As we enter the countdown to Windows 10's deprecation, many of us are wondering how to prepare for such an event. One of the most common questions concerns the programs we have installed on our PCs and with which we interact daily: What will happen to them? Will they stop working?
The first thing we should keep in mind is that Microsoft will stop distributing security updates and will no longer offer technical support on October 14th. However, this does not mean that our PC will become unusable, and in fact, the vast majority of our programs will continue to function perfectly.
Your programs will work as usual
Windows will stop distributing security updates, but what about antivirus? In the short term, you shouldn't worry. Well-known antivirus manufacturers like Bitdefender, Norton, and Kaspersky have announced plans to continue supporting their antivirus definitions for Windows 10 beyond October 2025. The main limitation will likely be in the medium to long term, when we will gradually run out of updates. However, that's still a while away.
The same will happen with our most used programs, such as Google Chrome, the Office suite, or VLC, among many others we may have installed. It's key to check directly with software developers (such as Google for Chrome or Adobe for its apps) about their official support policies for Windows 10 after October 2025. This way, we can anticipate any changes we may experience.
In any case, what's important to understand is that the support offered by programs like those mentioned won't last forever, and it's likely that the companies behind their development will have a roadmap after which they'll stop providing support to users. After all, it doesn't make much sense to continue developing features for a version of Windows that will have increasingly fewer users.
And what about Microsoft Defender?
If you're one of those users who uses Microsoft Defender as your primary antivirus, you'll definitely need to take extra precautions. As for its functionality, we won't have any issues, and it will continue to work as it has until now, alerting us to potential risks and offering all the features we're already familiar with. However, that's not the problem.
Specifically, if Microsoft Defender stops receiving malware definition updates after October 14, 2025, it will be unable to detect and neutralize new threats that emerge thereafter. This is a problem in the case of emerging ransomware variants, advanced banking Trojans, or sophisticated spyware. Essentially, a Windows 10 computer that relies solely on Windows Defender for antivirus will become increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks.
In this case, we can always switch to another antivirus that does offer support. But in the medium term, we'll need to consider these options if we want to continue using our computer and all the applications it offers fully functional. It's likely that as the date approaches, we'll become increasingly aware of more alternatives and possibilities, although we're already familiar with several of them.
