Windows 10 is officially dead. Well, kind of. Microsoft officially declared the end of support date to be October 14, 2025, after which the operating system will receive no further updates. That is, if you didn't sign up for the Extended Security Update (ESU) program that the company made available through a variety of methods, some of which have no monetary cost. In fact, in the EU, there isn't any special requirement — you can just keep getting updates for another year.

But even that is just an extra year, and for enterprise users paying for the ESU program, you can only go up to three years of updates. However, there's a special edition of Windows 10 that will be supported for a good while longer: the LTSC release. The latest version of Windows 10 LTSC was released in 2021, and it will be supported until 2031. Microsoft probably doesn't want you using this release, but if you really can't stand upgrading to Windows 11 or switching to Linux, maybe it's worth taking a look at.

What is Windows 10 LTSC?

A special enterprise version of Windows

Windows typically comes in a wide range of SKUs, and that already includes Enterprise editions. But the LTSC (short for Long-Term Servicing Channel) releases are a special variant even within that scope of users. Rather than following the Windows as a Service support model that the general Windows releases have, LTSC versions are frozen in time as far as features go, and releases may only happen every few years.

Instead, these releases of Windows only receive security updates, and may have certain features disabled. The support period for LTSC releases of Windows is fixed at 10 years from the original release of that specific version, and feature updates aren't required to maintain support.

Windows 10 had a few LTSC releases, starting with one that coincided with the launch year of Windows 10 itself, back in 2015. This edition has also run out of support, but there were others, including one in 2016, another in 2019, and the most recent in 2021. That means support for that latest release will last until 2031, far longer than what regular users get.

Of course, Microsoft doesn't want most people installing these releases of Windows 10. Not only are they aimed at enterprise scenarios, but even within that limited audience, the company says it is "not intended for deployment on most or all PCs" within a company. Instead, it's aimed at devices with very specific purposes rather than general-purpose machines. But that doesn't mean you can't give it a try for yourself.

What is it like to use Windows 10 LTSC?

It's Windows 10, but cleaner

This may come as a shock, but using the latest version of Windows 10 LTSC isn't too far off from just using Windows 10. It is the same operating system, after all.

Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021 is based on Windows 10 version 21H2, and as you might know, this was the year Windows 11 also launched. What that means is that Windows 10 itself really hasn't received much in the way of new features since that time anyway, so your experience with Windows 10 LTSC won't be awfully different from what you'd get with the very latest consumer release. In some ways, it might even be better, since some things like Copilot were shoehorned into the system later on, but not in this version. It's just a functional, clean version of Windows 10.

Even though it's a few years old, this release of Windows 10 also comes with the Chromium-based Edge browser, so while we wouldn't say it's good, it is at least usable compared to Edge Legacy that shipped in earlier releases. Of course, you can also download any browser you want, so it's not like you'd be restricted either way.

Your first big hurdle will be finding and activating this Windows 10 license, since it's not intended for public use. You can find it online with some digging, and the activation process is something we can't really dive into here, but you should be able to use the OS for 90 days as an evaluation period to see how you feel about it.

Otherwise, it's also worth noting that Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC does not come with the Microsoft Store or any apps provided through it. Notably, that includes the App Installer package, which is required to install apps using the MSIXBUNDLE format. These aren't overly common, and they usually offer typical EXE installers as options, so you should be okay, but there will be some restrictions. Looking around the internet, though, there are ways to enable the Microsoft Store if needed, so that's something you can look into.

Should you use it?

Realistically, maybe not

Using Windows 10 LTSC is obviously tempting, and there are a good few reasons to do it. For many people, it works perfectly fine, and as long as you're getting security updates, there may be no reason to upgrade to Windows 11, or you may just not be able to without paying for new hardware. And if the alternative is switching to Linux, that can be even harder since there are a lot of different usage paradigms to get used to.

From that perspective, Windows 10 LTSC fixes all your problems. You can stay on something functional and familiar for a lot longer without having to sacrifice security. After setting it up myself, I was able to install the latest cumulative updates with no issues. And for what it's worth, there's a good chance Windows 10 will continue to be supported by a lot of popular software in the foreseeable future. Considering how similar it is to Windows 11 under the hood, most apps shouldn't drop support that quickly.

But that only goes so far. Between finding an activation method (which will most likely be illegitimate unless you're in an actual enterprise), potentially having to set up the Microsoft Store, and the likelihood that your apps will eventually stop receiving updates, there are still some risks associated with staying on Windows 10 LTSC. Not to mention, you also have to find the ISO itself, which can be hard to get from an official source, meaning you'll have to trust that someone else has made a legitimate copy of the ISO available.

At the same time, if you're willing to go to these lengths to stay on Windows 10, then you're probably aware of the drawbacks and you're willing to deal with them, so I can't stop you. If you know what you're doing, you should be fine.

Windows 10 will live a long life

Whether you choose to get Windows 10 LTSC for yourself or not, this edition of Windows 10 will keep the operating system alive for a lot longer than Microsoft may have you believe. 2031 is still a long way out, so you can feasibly keep using Windows 10 for as long as your computer remains functional. But there are some big caveats to keep in mind, so you need to weigh the pros and cons before committing to it.