End of the line for Windows 10, which is saying goodbye after a year of support. Fortunately for users, Microsoft Defender antivirus will continue to function. The Redmond company confirmed this in a blog post, stating that protection will extend until October 2028.
Windows 10 has reached its end of life, so make sure to back up your ISO file. Microsoft is now fully focused on Windows 11, with version 25H2 recently available. For the previous version of the operating system, Microsoft Defender will continue to work until October 2028.
Does Microsoft Defender still work on Windows 10?
The application will still detect and protect against viruses and other threats. The good news is that the free version will also benefit from this extended security, as will the paid enterprise version known as Defender for Endpoint.
However, it is essential to remember that the lack of security updates for Windows 10, which affects 400 million PCs, remains a concern, whether or not Microsoft Defender is present. The Redmond company acknowledges this since, without recent security patches, users are vulnerable to new flaws discovered by hackers who may exploit them. Thus, Windows 10 is essentially a trap, and only Windows 11 offers the best protection.
It is crucial to distinguish between Microsoft Defender and Windows 10 updates. The antivirus constantly monitors the PC to detect and block malware and also allows for manual scanning. On the other hand, security patches address vulnerabilities in Windows 10 that hackers seek to exploit. Therefore, these are complementary protections. While we discuss Windows 10, this principle applies to other operating system versions, including Windows 11.
Overall, the fact that Microsoft Defender will continue to be supported until October 2028, which is two more years, is good news. For users of third-party antivirus software like Norton, McAfee, Bitdefender, or Avast, this is much less significant. However, this announcement at least brings peace of mind to Windows 10 users.
After all, using the operating system without any protection would be reckless. But let’s repeat one last time: relying solely on Microsoft Defender, without the necessary security patches, is insufficient for complete protection.
