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• Microsoft has said Windows 11 SE will run out of support in October 2026
• This brings an end to this alternative spin on Windows 11
• However, Surface Laptop SE owners were previously promised a longer timeframe of support for their devices

Microsoft has announced that it's dropping support for Windows 11 SE in just over a year's time, leaving buyers of low-cost laptops running this spin on its OS in the lurch - and admitting defeat with this most recent initiative to take on Google's Chromebooks.

If you're unfamiliar with Windows 11 SE, it was designed as a (kind of) lightweight version of the desktop operating system. It was preinstalled on affordable laptops that were priced to do well in the education sector, trying to take a piece of the pie that Chromebooks dominate (SE seemingly stood for Student or School Edition).

Windows Central reports that Microsoft announced via its Learn portal that Windows 11 SE support is being shuttered in October 2026.

The company said: "Microsoft will not release a feature update after Windows 11 SE, version 24H2. Support for Windows 11 SE - including software updates, technical assistance, and security fixes - will end in October 2026. While your device will continue to work, we recommend transitioning to a device that supports another edition of Windows 11 to ensure continued support and security."

So, you won't be provided with Windows 11 25H2 later this year on your SE device, if you own one - version 24H2 is as far down the line as you'll get, and all updates will cease full-stop in just over a year.

(Image credit: Microsoft)Analysis: Silly Ending for a Student Edition?

Microsoft has been trying to take on Google's Chromebooks for a long time now, including efforts such as Windows 10X - which badly misfired and ended up being canned before it even arrived. Windows 11 SE was the most recent effort, emerging late in 2021, and it was showcased by Microsoft in its Surface Laptop SE. However, as we observed in our review of that machine, there was a problem here - the performance level of the notebook was rather poor.

The simple truth about Windows 11 SE is that while it was supposed to be a streamlined operating system for low-cost devices, this variant of the desktop OS was still too unwieldy. There just wasn't enough emphasis on trimming down Windows 11 so it performed better.

Indeed, much of the thrust of Windows 11 SE was about simplifying the computing experience for students - the interface, and locking the system to only admin-approved apps, plus cloud services - rather than actually streamlining the operating system so it ran well on lesser hardware. And let's be honest, the latter was the whole point, really, at least in terms of making affordable laptops to rival cheap Chromebooks (which run very slickly indeed, despite their low cost).

So, all in all, it's not surprising to see Microsoft shutter this effort in this manner. What is surprising, though, is how owners of Windows 11 SE machines, like the Surface Laptop SE, have now been left in the lurch by this announcement that support is being killed in a year.

As Neowin, which also picked up on this move, points out, the Surface Laptop SE has an end-of-service date (for firmware and drivers) of January 11, 2028. But with Microsoft now having revealed that Windows 11 SE won't be going on beyond October 2026, that's cutting this support window (pun not intended) short by over a year.

Those who own a Surface Laptop SE, who thought they were good for another couple of years, have effectively now been told they're going to be a year shorter on support. If Microsoft promised support for this showcase laptop through to 2028, then why not extend support for the dedicated OS it runs to that date, too? Strong-arming folks into moving early hardly seems fair here.

It seems an odd decision to make, and one that won't endear Microsoft to some people. Indeed, when it comes to Microsoft's next big shot at taking on Chromebooks - if there is one - those in the education sector might remember what's happened here, and be less trusting of new ideas from the software giant.

For those who do have a laptop running Windows 11 SE, and now need to plan on switching away sooner from that OS, maybe to a different flavor of Windows 11, this is possible, albeit somewhat problematic in some reported cases. Going by this Reddit thread, if you're running into trouble in this endeavor, you may want to try turning off Secure Boot in the laptop's BIOS to get a working installation of Windows 11 Home or Pro on an SE machine (you can switch the feature back on afterwards, apparently).

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• Meta and Stanford University researchers have developed new MR glasses
• These specs use holography to produce high-quality images
• Support rumors that Meta's headsets may turn into slim goggles

Meta’s newly published research gives us a glimpse at its future XR plans, and seemingly confirms it wants to make ultra-slim XR goggles.

That’s because Meta’s Reality Labs, alongside Stanford University, published a paper in Nature Photonics showcasing a prototype that uses holography and AI to create a super-slim mixed reality headset design.

The optical stack is just 3mm thick, and unlike other mixed reality headsets we’re used to – like the Meta Quest 3 – this design doesn’t layer stereoscopic images to create a sense of depth. Instead, it produces holograms that should look more realistic and be more natural to view.

That means it’s not only thin, but high-quality too – an important combination.

(Image credit: Suyeon Choi, Changwon Jang, Douglas Lanman and Gordon Wetzstein)

Now there’s still more work to be done. The prototype shown in the image above doesn’t look close to being a consumer-grade product that’s ready to hit store shelves.

What’s more, it doesn’t yet seem to pass what’s called the Visual Turing Test. This would be the point at which it's impossible to distinguish between a hologram and a real-world object, though that goal looks to be what Reality Labs and Stanford hope to eventually achieve.

Even with this technology still likely years (perhaps even a decade) from making it to a gadget you or I could go out and buy, the prototype’s design does showcase Meta’s desire to produce ultra-thin MR tech.

It lends credence to rumors that Meta’s next VR headset could be a pair of lightweight goggles about a fifth as heavy as the 515g Meta Quest 3.

Given these rumored goggles are believed to be coming in the next few years, they’ll likely avoid the experimental holography tech found in Meta and Stanford’s report, but if Meta were looking to trim weight and slim down the design further in future iterations, the research it’s conducting now would be a vital first step.

Are glasses and goggles the future? (Image credit: Oakley / Meta)

I, for one, am increasingly excited to see what XR tech Meta is cooking up.

It's Ray-Ban, and now Oakley, glasses have showcased the wild popularity that XR wearables can achieve if they find the sweet spot of comfort, utility, and price, with that first factor looking to be the most vital.

Meta’s other recent research into VR on the software side also highlights that a lighter headset would remove friction in keeping people immersed for hours on end.

This could lead to more meaningful productivity applications, but also more immersive and expansive gaming experiences, and other use cases I’m excited to see and try when the time is right.

For now, I'm content with my Meta Quest 3, but I can't deny it now looks a little like a boulder next to this 3 mm-thick prototype design.

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• Microsoft has put together a new promotional video
• It sells the benefits of transferring to a new PC via the Backup app
• However, it's also pushing a OneDrive subscription - but there are free alternatives

Microsoft has published a video clip explaining how easy it is to move to Windows 11 using the Backup app to transfer the contents of your Windows 10 PC (or most of them, anyway).

Windows Latest spotted the new promotional video from Microsoft, which shows how easy it is to make the leap to a Windows 11 PC (see the clip below).

As the video makes clear, you can back up your personal files, Windows settings, and also some apps from your Windows 10 PC, and transfer them directly to a Windows 11 computer with a minimum of fuss (or that's certainly the idea).

To be fair to Microsoft, it also points out the major catches with using the Windows Backup app to switch over to a Windows 11 PC.

Namely, that you can't take third-party apps with you - they need manual reinstallation, only Microsoft Store apps can be ported across (their pins will be where you left them, and you can click on the relevant pin to restore the application) - and that you're limited to 5GB of files by default.

The 5GB restriction is in place because the backup that the Windows app creates is stored on OneDrive - so you need an account with Microsoft's cloud storage locker. The basic free account only has 5GB of cloud storage, and if you want more space than that, you'll have to pay for a OneDrive subscription.

(Image credit: Foxy burrow / Shutterstock / Microsoft)Analysis: other options for PC migration that are free

So, the long and short of it is, if your data and settings amount to more than 5GB - which it surely will in most cases - then you'll need a paid plan on OneDrive to ensure Windows Backup transfers all your stuff to a new Windows 11 PC.

In other words, this is Microsoft not-so-subtly pushing a OneDrive subscription (not for the first time, I might add). If you want to use Microsoft's built-in Windows Backup facility, there's no alternative to OneDrive. If you paid for cloud storage with another provider, no choice is offered to use that cloud locker instead.

There are alternatives to paying for a OneDrive subscription to ensure you have enough capacity to fully transfer all your files across to a new PC. You can simply be very selective about what you choose for Microsoft's Backup app to port over, and perhaps leave out the hefty chunk of media files (photos, videos) you may have on your computer.

To move those media files, you could simply copy them to an external drive, and then subsequently manually move them onto the new PC - okay, that's a bit of extra hassle, but it's not really a big deal. (If you do go this route, don't delete the files from the original PC until they're safely transferred - always be sure to keep multiple copies. Never rely on a single copy of any data, as in this case, if the external drive goes kaput, you've lost everything).

Another eventual option will be the PC-to-PC migration feature in the Windows Backup app, which transfers your files over from one computer to another via the local network (with no need for OneDrive). However, you will need a Microsoft account still, and in this case, no apps will be ported across at all (not even those from the Microsoft Store).

Even so, this will be a useful alternative in the future, but the feature isn't live yet. Indeed, it hasn't appeared on Windows 10 at all - only the non-functional shell of the PC-to-PC migration feature is available on Windows 11 currently - but I can only presume that Microsoft is working to get this up and running before October 2025, when Windows 10 support runs dry.

Notably, though, Microsoft doesn't mention PC-to-PC migration in the above video clip. Fair enough, as noted, it isn't working yet, and so the company does have an excuse - but I'm betting there won't be an all-singing-and-dancing promotional video campaign for this feature when it debuts. Unlike pushing OneDrive, this isn't going to give Microsoft any immediate (potential) financial benefit.

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• Apple has released an important new update for macOS Sequoia
• The update prevents a potential bricking issue for users utilizing DFU mode for device recovery
• It may be the last macOS Sequoia update before macOS Tahoe 26's arrival

Apple's macOS Tahoe 26 is now on the horizon, slated for release later this year. However, Apple isn't quite done with macOS Sequoia, and it's just released an important update for Mac users.

As reported by 9to5Mac, Apple has released macOS Sequoia 15.6, a new update with an important bug fix. This resolves an issue with Finder and Apple Configurator's inability to restore devices from DFU (Device Firmware Upgrade) mode, which could result in a bricked device if unsuccessful.

Users would need to specifically enter DFU mode (which serves as an alternative to recovery mode for device restoration) for this to occur. While users who aren't planning on using DFU may still be safe on Sequoia 15.5 (and older), it's better to eliminate the chance of bricking a device entirely by updating to Sequoia 15.6.

This could be one of the last updates of Sequoia we see before it eventually bows out to Tahoe 26, which promises a variety of improvements to the macOS experience – it's already available in public beta, and it looks set to be ideal for multitaskers and gamers.

With new tools like MetalFX Frame Interpolation, a Game Overlay, and an upgraded Game Porting Tool kit, macOS Tahoe 26 is another step in the right direction for Apple and its gaming support.

(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future)Analysis: macOS Tahoe 26's features are making me wish I had an M-series MacBook...

Having only used Intel-powered MacBooks, I've been debating a potential switch from Windows laptops to M-series MacBooks for a while now – and the arrival of macOS Tahoe 26 looks like the perfect time for it.

I'm a big gamer (if that wasn't clear enough already), and I'm not opposed to spending a hefty sum when a laptop can provide exceptional performance in productivity and multitasking, alongside gaming. Yes, gaming laptops exist, but MacBooks using the latest M-series chips look like the ideal answer due to their power efficiency.

I'm growing tired of Windows for gaming, and I'd rather use SteamOS for its console-like UI and better game performance – but using Discord for streaming to friends on SteamOS' game mode, isn't a simple task. Until that's addressed, I'll stick to SteamOS/Bazzite for handhelds exclusively.

As for gaming on a laptop, macOS is becoming a more appealing operating system after each update, especially with a growing game library with titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Resident Evil 4 remake on Macs. Apple is continuously proving that gaming is on its radar, and it might just convince me to join the party.

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• There are scattered reports of Windows 10 PCs being offered a Windows 11 upgrade
• That's despite the fact that these devices don't meet the Windows 11 hardware requirements
• This has happened in the past, too, and it looks like it's a recurring bug – and not an offer you want to take up

There are scattered reports of Windows 10 PCs being offered an upgrade to Windows 11 even though they don't meet the requirements of the newer operating system.

German tech blog Born City brings us this news (via Neowin), with the author of the post describing an incident with their Dell Latitude 7490.

That laptop is running Windows 10 22H2, and keeps being offered an upgrade to Windows 11 every few months, even though it isn't compatible with the latter OS, and the author says they're having to repeatedly dismiss the upgrade prompt.

On top of this, a reader contacted Born City, explaining that their Lenovo IdeaPad, also using version 22H2 of Windows 10, was offered a Windows 11 upgrade despite having TPM 2.0 switched off in the BIOS (this is a hard-and-fast requirement for running Windows 11).

This annoyed the reader, seeing as they had specifically turned off this TPM functionality to avoid getting prompted about an upgrade.

Furthermore, the report points out previous incidents earlier this year, where an IT admin at a company contacted Born City complaining that multiple PCs had been automatically upgraded to Windows 11 24H2 (from Windows 10 22H2) without their knowledge, bypassing all the usual update procedures in place for these business machines.

(Image credit: Future / Jeremy Laird)What's going on here?

The author of the article asks if any other readers have encountered these offers of Windows 11 upgrades that have been piped through to PCs that shouldn't be getting them. Notably, there are no responses saying that other people have, and scouring the usual online forums, I can't find other recent reports of this kind of behavior (on the likes of Reddit, for example).

So, my conclusion at this point is that these are very much scattered incidents, but what's interesting is that they aren't happening for the first time.

In my digging around on Reddit, I found reports from early in 2023, reminding me of a very similar incident whereby Windows 10 devices were offered an upgrade to Windows 11.

Back at the time, Microsoft told us: "These ineligible devices did not meet the minimum requirements to run Window 11. Devices that experienced this issue were not able to complete the upgrade installation process." This was, in fact, a bug that was fixed on the same day.

There are also historic reports of Windows 10 users receiving the Windows 11 upgrade despite having switched off TPM 2.0 (in order to avoid the newer OS, as was the case with the Born City reader mentioned above).

What does all this mean? In my book – and this is just my opinion – this looks to be a recurring bug with Windows 10 (as was previously the case, and seemingly one with a very limited impact this time).

And it's not like there's any shortage of glitches that keep making a comeback with Microsoft's desktop OS – just look at the persisting installation failures with Windows updates across the years.

There are theories around that this could be Microsoft somehow forcing Windows 11 upgrades to help with adoption numbers of the newer operating system, which have spiked recently, which is only to be expected with Windows 10 End of Life now drawing ever closer.

Granted, these theorists could have a point in terms of updates being forced with PCs that have actively tried to avoid them – as in deliberately turning off TPM 2.0, when it's supported on the device – but I remain skeptical even then.

Neowin points out that a recent stealth update for both Windows 10 and 11, which can force-upgrade PCs to a newer version, may have something to do with all this, and that again is a possibility.

Still, I feel this is buggy behavior, even if that's true – Microsoft would surely never intentionally push an upgrade to unsupported hardware. And if the rules have changed regarding Windows 11 compatibility somehow, it would be very remiss of Microsoft not to point this out.

(Image credit: Microsoft)What should you do if you encounter an upgrade prompt on an unsupported PC?

So, the question you may have is this point is: what should you do if, by chance, you're offered a Windows 11 upgrade when your Windows 10 PC doesn't meet the system requirements of the newer platform?

The simple answer here is: don't take that upgrade. For starters, the update may fail (especially given that it's possibly being offered in error), as was the case with previous instances of this happening. And even if it was to succeed, there's no telling if things might go awry with your Windows 11 installation in the future.

Just like a fudged upgrade to avoid the requirement of having TPM 2.0 – which can be done – the recommendation remains not to take this route.

If you're worried about the impending death of Windows 10, remember that even though support is going to be officially ending in October 2025, you can now sign up for free updates for another year (all you need to do is sync PC settings to OneDrive, which isn't a big deal I don't think – though your opinion might vary).

That'll give you plenty of breathing space – until October 2026 – to work out what you're going to do, but I really don't think trying to run Windows 11 on an officially unsupported PC is a good idea. Not, at least until Microsoft clarifies that Windows 11's system requirements have somehow been changed, if that's indeed true (and as mentioned I very much doubt it), or of that happens in the future – and I don't see that in my crystal ball, either.

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