Windows 10 Home and Pro will no longer get security and maintenance updates on October 14, 2025. As a result, Windows PCs that don’t satisfy Windows 11’s hardware requirements will no longer get official, guaranteed feature and security upgrades.
As of October 14, 2025, Microsoft will no longer provide security and maintenance updates for Windows 10 Home and Pro. As a result, Windows PCs that don’t satisfy Windows 11’s hardware requirements will no longer get official, guaranteed feature and security upgrades.
That hardware will be disposed of when Windows 10 is no longer supported. Windows 11 can be installed, operated, and updated on unsupported hardware, but we don’t know how long Microsoft will allow consumers to do so. They can either stop providing security updates for these machines tomorrow or enable them to use the new operating system indefinitely. It’s difficult to prepare for that kind of ambiguity.
Another alternative is to use a Linux distribution, such as Ubuntu, Mint, or Elementary OS, which is more user-friendly. There are, however, some components of every Linux distribution that are difficult for newbies to understand. There is a good chance that by now, a Linux distribution would have been able to compete and flourish against Windows on the desktop or laptop market.
Chrome OS Flex allows Google to repurpose aging Macs and PCs into Chromebooks.
Chrome OS Flex is a version of Google’s lightweight operating system that runs on the majority of ordinary PC hardware. It has the blessing and backing of Google. Google bought CloudReady, a Chromium OS-based product in late 2020, and we’ve followed it since its very early days as a method to turn old PCs into ersatz Chromebooks.
Due in part to its simplicity, the support of an enormously powerful corporation, and the ease with which schools and companies can manage their computers using simple tools, Chrome OS has found a foothold in an otherwise Windows-dominated market for consumer PCs. For those firms who have a large Windows laptop fleet, Google now offers Flex, a new operating system for their aged PC users that allows them to quickly migrate from Windows to Chrome OS.
In the official Chromebook Recovery Utility, you’ll see Chrome OS Flex listed alongside all the other “genuine” Chrome hardware. When you select Chrome OS Flex as your device manufacturer, you’ll see the dev channel build of Flex appear. Downloading separate images for various devices or CPU kinds is unnecessary. It’s easy to follow the installation instructions, and there’s lots of information if you need it.
Dev channel of Chrome Flex is based on Chrome OS version 100 and is clearly a very early version of this operating system. “CloudReady” is still listed in several places, and the list of approved models is littered with warnings about small or serious difficulties. With CloudReady, you may run Chrome OS Flex without having to format your internal storage, which is what we’d advise for testing purposes at this time.
Chrome OS vs. Chrome OS Flex: Who Wins?
Almost all of what we’ve discussed thus far concerning Chrome OS Flex is also true of the home version of CloudReady, which has been around for a long time and is now stable. There are still certain feature gaps between a CloudReady laptop and a “true” Chromebook that can be closed by switching to Chrome OS.
Chromebooks and Chrome OS Flex PCs will receive all of Chrome OS’s software upgrades at the same time, so Chrome OS Flex won’t lag behind Chrome OS mainline releases. The official Chrome logo’s color scheme will be a more subdued shade of blue than that of the Chromium symbol. The Google Assistant and Smart Lock are now more integrated with Flex than they were before. When paired with an Android phone, you’ll benefit from improved geolocation accuracy, Family Link accounts, and support for Instant Tethering. On “suitable hardware,” the “Crostini” Linux environment for Chrome OS can be activated as well. The term “compatible” has yet to be defined, but we expect to learn more about it as Flex nears a stable release.
Those that promote the use of Chromebooks in the workplace and educational institutions stand to gain as well. To administer your organization’s Chromebooks, you no longer need to pay CloudReady itself, but simply for the admin license you use. Chrome OS Flex is the same regardless of whether you use the CloudReady Home, Enterprise or Education editions of the software.
