In the flurry of updates to Windows 11, and Microsoft’s exhortations to upgrade your Windows 10 software, another operating system may have flown under your radar. Windows 11 SE is being phased out in the coming months. Here’s what it means and what you should do.
Alongside Windows 10 and Windows 11, there’s Windows 11 SE, but not for much longer.
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Windows 11 SE is a version of Windows designed for education, working “on web-first devices that use essential education apps, and it comes with Microsoft Office 365 preinstalled,” as Microsoft describes it in a support document.
That document has been updated, as spotted by Dr Windows, and now Microsoft has warned that Windows 11 SE is drawing to a close.
“Support for Windows 11 SE will end in October 2026: 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,” the support page reads.
The software was first released in 2021 and was designed to be affordable to compete with Google Chromebooks, to persuade schools, for instance, not to switch to Chrome OS. There was one piece of Microsoft hardware to go with the software, the Surface Laptop SE, which sold for $249 in 2021, as The Verge reports. Other manufacturers also made laptops for this software.
The current version, 24H2, will not be updated to 25H2, the upcoming version that will work on other Windows 11 machines.
There have been reports that sales of Chromebooks have been on the decline, so Microsoft maybe thought this was the time to focus on people upgrading to Windows 11 instead.
If you have a Windows 11 SE device, you have plenty of time to change to one that runs Windows 11 — Surface Laptop SE, for instance, does not run the full version of Windows 11.
As Microsoft says, your machine will keep on working after the cut-off date of October next year, but it will lack security updates as well as feature improvements.
