We've already discussed how Microsoft is urging users to switch to Windows 11 as soon as possible because Windows 10 will no longer be supported on October 14, 2025. For individuals who are adamant about sticking with Windows 10, Microsoft is also providing a year of extended updates, both for free and at a cost. However, it's crucial to remember that this is not the only operating system that will be discontinued in three months.
Microsoft has published a notice on its Windows Health Release dashboard alerting users that, in addition to Windows 10 version 22H2 in the GAC, Windows 10 2015 LTSB will also stop being supported on October 14, 2025. In case you didn't know, LTSB stands for Long-Term Servicing Branch; however, it's now more often called Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC).
Enterprise clients who want a stable operating system with few to no modifications over time are the target market for the LTSB/LTSC branch. Although security patches are applied, new features are not released. It is mainly intended for mission-critical sectors such as manufacturing and healthcare.
Support for LTSC versions of Windows usually lasts for ten years. In October 2025, support for Windows 10 2015 LTSB will be discontinued. For those who are familiar with the OS's past, version 1507 serves as the baseline for this launch version of Windows 10. Microsoft discontinued mainstream support for version 1507 in 2017 following its debut in 2015, although LTSB customers were granted an extension of eight years of support, which will expire in around three months.
Only the LTSB/LTSC versions of Windows 10 listed below will be supported after October 14, 2025:
- Windows 10 LTSB 2016 (version 1607)
- Windows 10 LTSC 2019 (version 1809)
- Windows 10 LTSC 2021 (version 21H2)
At this stage, companies that are utilizing Windows 10 with LTSC might want to think about Windows 11 LTSC. There is only one LTSC release for Windows 11 at the moment, 2024 (version 24H2), which will be supported by the general public until October 2029.