As of today, I can vouch for the fact that my understanding of the situation thus far, aligns perfectly with Intuit's current operational reality, even though their official messaging sounds more restrictive. I consider it practically feasible, IF after considering your options, you opted to remain on W10, with security mitigation in place.

Official policy vs practical "boots-on-the-ground" status

1. The Official Policy: "Unsupported"

On Oct 14, 2025, Intuit's official documentation states: W10 is no longer a supported operating system.

• Discouragement: Intuit's support site and in-product notifications strongly advise upgrading to Windows 11. They cite "security risks" and "potential compatibility issues" as the primary reasons.

• Support Refusal?: If you call tech support, their agents might (not always) say your problem is due to W10.

2. The Practical Reality: "Functional"

Despite the official stance, Intuit has not implemented a "kill switch" or a platform block for QB2024 on W10. This is a marked departure from previous practice @7 & @8.1

• No Hard Lock: The software does not "phone home" to check the OS and lock you out. If it is installed, it will open and run.

• Fresh installs of QB2024 are successful on W10 machines.

• Updates (R14, R15, R16, etc.): You'll continue to receive the latest maintenance releases. Intuit delivers these updates to the application, and as long as the application can communicate with Intuit’s servers, the update will download and install.

3. The ESU (Extended Security Updates) Factor

notably: Intuit does not check for an active Windows 10 ESU subscription.

• Intuit’s update mechanism is independent of Microsoft’s Windows Update.

• Whether your W10 instance is receiving security patches from Microsoft (via ESU) or is completely unpatched, QB2024 will still pull its own internal updates (like tax table updates for payroll or R-level maintenance patches).

Summary

[WARNING]

While the software works, the "security risk" Intuit mentions is real in a technical sense: if a vulnerability is discovered in W10 that affects how QB handles data, Microsoft won't fix it (unless you have ESU), and Intuit won't write a "workaround" patch for an unsupported OS, unless that vulnerability also affects W11 (which is extremely likely).

The R16 update (released late 2025) introduces several features, but it also contains a new "nagware" behavior. While the update does not physically block you from using the software, it introduces a change in user experience.

1. The "YES" Prompt

The most notable change in R16 for W10 users is a mandatory startup notification.

• Every time you open QB2024 on W10, a pop-up appears stating that the OS is unsupported and poses a security risk.

• Unlike previous warnings that could be "dismissed forever," this one requires the user to type the word "YES" to acknowledge the risk, before proceeding to home screen.

• Bug Alert: There are widespread reports in late 2025 of this pop-up appearing incorrectly for users on Windows Server 2019 and 2022 (both active and not EOL), which are technically supported. Intuit has acknowledged this as a bug but has not yet remedied it (disabled the prompt for those supported versions).

2. Attachment Folder "Scanning" Issues

A technical concern surfaced in the R16 build regarding performance.

• The Issue: Some IT administrators have noted that R16 triggers continuous background scanning of the "Attach" folder (where PDF receipts and documents are stored).

• The Impact: On older W10 machines with slower mechanical hard drives or congested networks, this can lead to significant "not responding" lag or high Disk I/O. But this is purely a old low spec hardware issue, not W10 issue.

• The Fix: If you experience this, renaming the .qbw file or moving the attachment folder to a local path (rather than a mapped network drive) has been the community-recommended workaround.

3. New Features with "Hidden" Requirements

R16 includes features that might struggle on unpatched W10 systems:

• New Shipping Manager: As of December 7, 2025, the "Old Shipping Manager" was deprecated. The "New Shipping Manager" relies heavily on modern web-view components. If your W10 installation is missing certain .NET Framework updates (specifically 4.8 or the latest WebView2 runtimes), this feature may crash or display a blank white screen.

• Invoice-Level Profitability: A new reporting feature in R16 allows you to see profit margins directly on an invoice. This works fine on W10, but users have reported that "Memorized Reports" created prior to R16 sometimes become "scrambled" (columns out of order) after the update.

4. Mandatory "Strong" Passwords

R16 reinforces a security policy where any company file containing PII (Personally Identifiable Information), such as SSNs or bank details, now forces a complex password change (8+ characters, uppercase, lowercase, number, and symbol). This is not W10-specific, but it often surprises users who haven't updated in a while.

Summary of R16 Concerns for You

LINKS

• Intuit dec 2025 official notice: Win10 EOL