Windows 10 support ended on 14 October 2025, and the extended security updates for home users ended a year later. Many PCs cannot run Windows 11 (no TPM 2.0, a CPU older than the list). They still work, but connecting them to the Internet without security updates is a risk.
There is a third way between throwing them away and keeping them unpatched: turn them into terminals for a Windows that is up to date. OpenThinRDP replaces Windows 10 on the old PC with a small, locked-down system that is kept up to date by itself and opens a Windows 11 or Windows Server desktop over Remote Desktop. The work, the programs and the data stay on the up-to-date computer; the old PC only shows the screen.
| You have | Connect the old PCs to |
|---|---|
| At home: one newer PC with Windows 11 Pro, and an old laptop | that PC: the laptop becomes a second screen of it, in another room or from outside (at home) |
| A small office: one Windows Server or a few Windows 11 Pro PCs | Remote Desktop Services on the server, or each user's PC |
| A company with a domain: RDS or VDI on Hyper-V, Proxmox or VMware | the RD Connection Broker: the old PCs become a managed fleet of thin clients (getting started) |
It does not fit when the old PC must run programs on its own with no other Windows to connect to: then the options are Windows 11 on supported hardware, or a Linux desktop.
- The old PC: 64-bit x86, 2 GB of RAM, 8 GB of disk; nearly every PC that ran Windows 10 qualifies (hardware).
- A Windows that accepts Remote Desktop: Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise or Education, Windows Server, or a Windows virtual machine. Windows Home cannot be connected to.
- In a company: the Remote Desktop licences (RDS CALs) your server already needs for any client; OpenThinRDP adds no licence of its own.
- Write the ISO to a USB stick and start the old PC from it. It runs live: nothing is written to the disk.
- Choose Workgroup (home, small office) or Domain, set the computer or the broker to connect to, and sign in.
- Happy with it? Install replaces Windows 10 on the disk, or Install alongside Windows keeps it on a laptop that still has room.
Step by step: turning an old PC into a thin client.
- New hardware: the old PCs keep working for years; a terminal needs far less than a full Windows PC.
- Updates on every PC: Windows, programs and antivirus are updated in one place, on the server or the main PC. The terminals update themselves, with signed packages and a way back.
- Licences: no cost per device, no subscription, no account (is it free?).
This page is docs/guides/windows-10-end-of-support.md as published on GitHub, where the documentation, the releases and the discussions are.