Farewell to Windows 10

The clock is ticking, and schools need to make plans around Microsoft ceasing free support for Windows 10 on 14th October 2025. Here, Nigel Milligan explores the options available

There is the option to sign up for the one-year Windows 10 Extended Security Updates programme for $30 per device. If you don’t want to do this and are wondering what to do with your old Windows 10 PC, on their website, Microsoft have suggested leveraging trade in offers for a new Windows 11 PC or recycling the old machine through recycling programmes etc.

It comes as no shock that they don’t offer advice to keep the same PC and convert it for free to Google Chrome OS Flex – which is simple to download to a USB Drive using the Chrome Recovery Extension Tool in the Google Chrome Browser. Many schools IT Providers are very quick to let the schools purchase all new desktop PCs and laptops where in many cases there’s absolutely no need to at all.

Knowing What You Need

One of the schools I now work with had 200 Windows laptops for pupils of various ages, some as old as 7 years, that were struggling to run Windows 10 due to insufficient memory and slow hard drives. There wasn’t any chance that these laptops would be capable of running Windows 11. The previous provider said the only way to resolve this was to buy 200 new Windows 11 laptops for the pupils. I asked one simple question, “Do you need to use any specific installed Windows software or is everything you use accessed online via the browser?”

There was a quick answer of “We only use the web browser to access everything we need; these laptops take too long to load and there’s many issues with updates and user accounts.”

I sent them the details of how we can quickly convert them all to Google Chrome Flex and advised that ongoing management using the Google Device Management system is highly effective. The school very quickly decided to change IT Support provision.

To date, these 200 laptops are still booting up very quickly and have now enabled the wider use of Google Workspace across the rest of the school for teaching and learning.

Human Effort Studies

Google Chrome Flex OS and Chromebooks aren’t the answer in every scenario. If your school is 100% web-based for everything you do, including staff use, then this is the perfect solution to reduce security risks and save time too. In a recent human effort study at The Trondheim Kommune in Norway they found that it takes an average of 3 times the effort to maintain Windows OS compared to Chrome OS.

Schools who have been heavily invested in Windows PC’s and teaching software such as Smart Notebook or Activ Inspire are facing the biggest challenge and are struggling to move away from Windows. In many cases, they have already updated their PCs to Windows 11 to maintain the resources they have become dependent on. There are other options available to allow the use of legacy Smart Notebooks and Activ Inspire flipchart files. These range from the online Smart Lumio and / or the use of the Explain Everything app for iPad. I am in the process of testing these options with some schools to help them plan accordingly.

Moving Away

It’s worth noting that many organisations around the world have moved away from using Windows PCs over to Apple Mac or Chrome OS without any detriment to their interactions with others who remain with Microsoft. If your school has web-based resources for your MIS & Finance systems as well as the wider scope of work, then there’s no reason at all to have to maintain a Windows environment other than your IT Team or provider being insistent that it’s what is required. Other than supporting customers who are still using Microsoft solutions, my own devices are all Apple (Mac, iPad & iPhone) and all systems are web based with Google Workspace Business Standard at the heart of it.

My lasting memory from the very first school we introduced Apple MacBooks and Google Workspace to is of the day we were closing for Christmas, and all the staff were given a brand-new MacBook. I said “Happy Christmas” to them all as they were all handed out.

Nearly all the staff looked horrified and said, “You’re joking, what am I supposed to do with that?!!” along with a few unwritable comments! Fast forward to the first day back after Christmas, I was inundated with every old Windows laptop being thrust at me with comments such as “This MacBook is awesome, it actually works and is so simple to use.”

Along with everything being accessed online and the MacBook also working seamlessly with the iPads in school, it was several years before the MacBooks were replaced with new ones. Yes, the old ones are still working perfectly fine now over 10 years later running Google Chrome OS Flex. Schools need to have the confidence to get the best value out of the money they invest in devices. Don’t let your IT support provider or in-house IT department keep insisting on what’s right for them. It’s what is right for the school that counts.