Microsoft is showing some Windows 10 users full-screen ads for new Surface laptops.
Those using Windows 10 may see full-screen ads from Microsoft for Windows 11 computers from its own Surface series. The advertisement is the most prominent yet, appearing ahead of the end of support for Windows 10 in October 2025.
In the ads, shared by users on X, Microsoft points out that you should plan for the end of Windows 10, and can do more with a Windows 11 computer. Those who click through will come to an advertising website that links to Windows 11 computers. The ads use images of Microsoft’s own Surface computers and take up the entire screen.
That Microsoft is warning users about the end of support for the OS next year is not a big deal in itself. Microsoft will have supported the operating system for a decade by then. When security updates stop, it will be unsafe to use Windows 10 any longer.
E-waste
The problem with moving from Windows 10 to Windows 11, however, is that users can no longer upgrade older systems. Microsoft is artificially blocking such upgrades for systems older than 2018 without a TPM 2.0 chip, even though it is not really necessary for Windows 11. That implies that a lot of Windows 10 systems that are theoretically perfectly capable of running Windows 11 will end up in the e-waste pile starting October 2025.
Users of such devices want Microsoft to use the ads to encourage them to spend money on a new computer. That they can still buy additional support for Windows 10 for $30 a year, Microsoft does not mention.
Nor is Microsoft’s aggressive way of advertising falling on good ground. Earlier this year, Redmond launched a campaign to upgrade systems aimed at business users. Those ads also took over the screen.