If your business PCs are running Windows 11, there's a good chance they're on version 24H2 — and Microsoft has confirmed that Home and Pro editions of 24H2 stop receiving monthly security updates on 13 October 2026. After that date, any device still sitting on 24H2 keeps running, but every newly discovered vulnerability goes unpatched. The fix is straightforward for most businesses: move to version 25H2, which is a small, fast update rather than a full reinstall. The part that catches people out is that most PCs won't do this automatically before the deadline.
What's actually ending, and what isn't
This is not the same event as the Windows 10 cut-off many Perth businesses dealt with last October. That was the end of an entire operating system. This is the end of one version of Windows 11 — 24H2 specifically, which shipped in late 2024 and has been the default build on most new PCs since. Microsoft services each annual Windows 11 feature update for a fixed window, and for Home and Pro that window is 24 months. For 24H2, that clock runs out on 13 October 2026.
Enterprise and Education editions of 24H2 get a longer run — supported until October 2027 — but almost every small business laptop and desktop bought off the shelf is running Home or Pro, not a volume-licensed Enterprise build. If your business hasn't specifically arranged Enterprise licensing through a managed IT provider, assume you're on the shorter clock.
Version 25H2 is already out and is the version that keeps getting security updates well beyond October. Moving to it isn't a reinstall or a repeat of the Windows 10-to-11 migration — 25H2 uses the same underlying code as 24H2, with new features already sitting dormant on the device, switched on by what Microsoft calls an enablement package. In practice it behaves like an ordinary Windows update: one restart, a few minutes, no reconfiguring apps or re-entering licence keys.
Why this is easy to miss
The reason this deadline sneaks past businesses is that a PC running 24H2 looks and behaves completely normally right up until, and after, the cut-off. There's no on-screen warning that resembles the Windows 10 end-of-support banners people got used to seeing. Windows Update will usually offer 25H2 on its own timeline over the coming months regardless, which is genuinely helpful — but "usually" and "eventually" aren't good enough if you want every machine covered before October, particularly if some devices have update settings that defer or delay feature updates, which is common on business PCs configured to avoid disruption.
We saw the same pattern play out with the Windows 10 end-of-support deadline: businesses that had genuinely forgotten which machines were still on the old version, because nobody had checked in over a year. The lesson from that is the same one here — a five-minute audit now is much cheaper than finding out in November that half the office is running an unpatched build.
How to check what you're running
On any Windows 11 PC:
- Open Settings
- Go to System > About
- Look for Windows specifications, and check the Version field
If it says 24H2, that machine needs to move to 25H2 before October. If it already says 25H2, you're covered. Doing this across a handful of office PCs takes a few minutes; doing it across a fleet of laptops is exactly the kind of routine check that's easy to lose track of without someone actively managing it.
What to do before October
- Check every device, not just the ones in the main office — laptops used by remote or hybrid staff are the ones most likely to have missed automatic updates.
- Don't assume "it'll update itself." Business devices with update deferrals, metered connections, or ones that are rarely restarted can sit on 24H2 well past the deadline without anyone noticing.
- Back up before any feature update, as standard practice — not because 25H2 is expected to cause problems, but because that discipline is what makes any update genuinely low-risk.
- Flag any device that can't upgrade. A machine failing to move to 25H2 usually points to a hardware or configuration issue worth investigating now, while there's still time, rather than after the device is unsupported.
What we do
For clients on a managed IT support plan, feature updates like the move to 25H2 are staged and pushed automatically as part of normal patch management, with backups checked beforehand — nobody has to remember a date on a calendar. If you manage updates yourselves and aren't sure which version each of your machines is running, that's a quick thing to check together; our IT consulting team can run a fleet-wide check and handle the rollout for you.
An unsupported Windows version isn't dramatic on its own — the PC keeps working exactly as before. The risk is a quiet one: every vulnerability discovered after 13 October goes unpatched on any device still sitting on 24H2, and that gap only grows the longer it's left. Checking now, while there's still time to fix anything that doesn't upgrade cleanly, is a lot less stressful than discovering it in a hurry. If you'd like us to check your business's devices before the deadline, get in touch or call (08) 9325 1196 — Computer Mechanics has been keeping Perth businesses' systems properly patched and supported since 1997.
