500 Million Windows PCs Are About to Become Unsafe—Now There’s a Free Upgrade to Keep Them Running

Microsoft left Windows 10 users with older hardware behind. Google has a free and convenient fix.

BY AMAYA NICHOLE, NEWS WRITER

Illustration: Inc.; Photo: Getty Images

A half-billion Windows 10 users are facing fresh security risks in the wake of Microsoft dropping its support for the operating system. But Google just announced a practical—and free—solution to keep the PCs running safely.

Though Windows 11 upgrades are also free, more than 500 million Windows 10 PCs are ineligible due to system requirements they don’t meet. Google has a fix: Switch to its ChromeOS Flex operating system.

It’s “a modern, cloud-based operating system that’s secure and easy to manage,” Google said.

ChromeOS Flex isn’t new, but Google has streamlined the process to switch your OS, with the company announcing a new ChromeOS Flex USB kit in partnership with Back Market—an online marketplace for refurbished electronics and appliances—to help users “install our fast, secure, and free operating system to modernize the PC or Mac you already own.”

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The need for this deal originated when Microsoft decided to end the Windows 10 support in October. It left millions with a difficult decision: Spend hundreds on a new device, or continue using an old, unsecured device. “The company has drawn a hard line, leaving users with older machines in a digital no-man’s land,” the Tech Buzz said at the time. 

Microsoft had predicted a more fluid transition and aimed to mirror the relatively swift shift from Windows 7 to Windows 10. What was meant to be a modernizing upgrade has instead proved exclusionary, stalling Microsoft’s push toward an AI-centric ecosystem.

“We have not completed the Windows 11 transition,” COO Jeffrey Clarke said during Dell’s Q3 earnings call last year. “In fact, if you were to look at it relative to the previous OS end of support, we are 10-12 points behind at that point with Windows 11 than we were the previous generation.”

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