Microsoft confirmed that Windows 11 SE is on its way out. The operating system will reach end of support in October 2026 and won’t receive updates anymore after that month’s Patch Day. It is one of several Microsoft products that reach end of support or life in 2026.
What is Windows 11 SE? Windows 11 SE is a limited version of Windows 11 that is cloud-first and specifically designed for the education market, which requires cheap, secure, and easy to manage devices.
Microsoft created the operating system as a way to compete directly with Google’s Chromebook, regain lost grounds and increase the reach of its Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
Windows 11 SE offered a simplified interface, better offline capabilities than Chrome, and manageability via Microsoft Intune for Education. Critics found Windows 11 SE to be considerably heavier than Chrome OS. Additionally, availability was limited and users could not install apps on their devices.
Windows 11 SE: the countdown to end of support
Microsoft confirms that Windows 11 SE will no longer be supported after October 2026. This does not come as a total surprise, as Microsoft announced last year already that it would not release another feature update for Windows 11 SE.
The last feature update is Windows 11, version 24H2. From October 2026, Microsoft won’t release software updates or security fixes, and won’t offer technical assistance either.
Devices will continue to work, according to Microsoft. However, Windows 11 SE devices were low-spec devices. Microsoft’s own reference device came with an Intel Celeron N4020 or N4120 processor, 4 or 8 GB of DDR4 RAM, and either 64 GB or 128 GB of eMMC storage.
Third-party manufacturers, including Dell, Lenovo and HP, created custom devices, but they all had in common that components were not designed for speed of performance.
While it may be possible to install a different operating system on the devices, it would be ironic if Chrome OS would be installed on those devices. A clean install of windows 11 may also be an option, at least on some devices. However, this will likely lead to performance issues due to the low-power processor and bare minimum storage for running Windows 11.
It seems unlikely that Microsoft is working on Windows 12 SE. Microsoft recommends that customers migrate to devices that run Windows 11, but does not seem to offer any discounts to affected customers at this point.
This makes no sense, win 11se being dropped while win11 is still supported. This is a big screw you to those companies and education facilities that use this os as they have little to no recorse but to end the use of widows, or spend huge amounts if money to bring everything up to win11 (non-se) compliant systems. Also more computers being trashed as lots of them will not run anything else.
“Also more computers being trashed as lots of them will not run anything else.”
The schools here all went to Chromebooks years ago–faster, less expensive, easy to service, etc.
In the classroom, the IT Department needs “disposable” laptops; the teachers were all given Windows 11 this year.
Most likely, Windows SE was abandoned long ago by Districts across the country.
And the District here did “trash” a lot of computers this year at a yard sale. I picked up an OptiPlex 3050 with a great screen for $35 and installed Windows 10 LTSC. It’s a backup computer. Excellent deal!
Yes, kids are not going to treat their free laptops well. Schools need as cheap laptops or tablets as possible, and that is not going to be Windows laptops.