RIP: Microsoft to drop support for Windows 10 on 32-bit systems (2024)

Microsoft has stated that future versions of Windows 10, starting with the May 2020 Update, will no longer be available as 32-bit builds on new OEM computers.

An update to the Windows 10Minimum hardware requirements document, Microsoft states that starting with Windows 10 2004, new OEM computers will be required to use 64-bit builds of the operating system.

"Beginning with Windows 10, version 2004, all new Windows 10 systems will be required to use 64-bit builds and Microsoft will no longer release 32-bit builds for OEM distribution. This does not impact 32-bit customer systems that are manufactured with earlier versions of Windows 10; Microsoft remains committed to providing feature and security updates on these devices, including continued 32-bit media availability in non-OEM channels to support various upgrade installation scenarios."

This change does not mean that Microsoft is no longer supporting 32-bit builds, as they will continue to do so in a limited manner.

Microsoft states that they will are still committedto supporting users running older hardware and will continue to make 32-bit media available in non-OEM channels.

Furthermore, Microsoft will continue to offer feature updates and security updates for versions of Windows running on 32-bit hardware.

Few still use Windows 10 32-bit

Microsoft does not offer statistics on the number of devices continuing to use Windows 10 32-bit, but the Steam Hardware & Software Survey: April 2020shows that it is inlimited use.

According to Steam's hardware survey, only 0.20% use Windows 10 32-bit while 86.08% use Windows 10 64-bit.

While Steam's statistics focus on gamers who are likely running on newer equipment, it does give us an indication that the amount of people continuing to use Windows 32-bit is small.

With few users using continuing to use Windows 10 32-bit and almost all new equipment having 64-bit support, this change eliminates a whole range of potential issues and development conflicts that may arise by supporting both architectures.

This change by Microsoft, though, is essentially killing off 32-bit Windows as older versions reachend of support,and new versions are released.