[Development] Windows 10's EOL in Qt

Mon Sep 28 08:18:40 CEST 2026

Hmm... What do you think of the following ideas?

1. I am, not sure if Qt explicitly needs to support Windows Server. Every version of Windows Server is based on a Windows 10/11 build, so the support is implicitly given? I do not see any specific code for Windows Server in the future and only talk about the same support as for Windows 10/11.
  * Windows Server 2016: Windows 10 [1607].
  * Windows Server 2019: Windows 10 [1809].
  * Windows Server 2022: Windows 10 [21H2].
  * Windows Server 2025: Windows 11 [24H2].

2. I do not see the value of the 5 year LTS support for Qt 6.12. We are a multi platform open source project and we do not want to be stuck on Qt 6.12 for 5 years. Our customers expect updates of our application as long as the (extended security) support of the specific Windows version is given by Microsoft.

3. A missing CI for Windows 10 is not a problem for me. I simply want to raise awareness of my need and am very grateful that Qt has "supported" QT_WIN_SERVER_2016_COMPAT. It can be a community task to keep Windows Server 2019/2022 it running. As far as I know it is also a community task to keep the endless combinations of feature toggles running?

Mit freundlichen Grüßen / Sincerely yours
Lars Schmertmann

Am Dienstag, dem 22.09.2026 um 08:11 +0200 schrieb Maurice Kalinowski via Development:

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There is a difference yes. But we are talking about “Windows Classic” here, meaning win32.

And while Microsoft guarantees a large chunk of compatibility between the variants, we never had Windows Server officially supported. So, in that respect Vladimir is correct. There is a high likelihood that everything works, but no guarantee.

I would still like to highlight a different topic. Windows 10 (and corresponding Windows Server versions) have been declared end-of-life since many years by Microsoft. Qt has still been carrying support for this version until 6.12. Having said that, this will need to come to an end for effort and maintenance reasons. Microsoft provides Windows 10 support only via a commercial agreement and service packages. And as such, the very same applies to Qt. Qt 6.12 has 5 years of LTS support plus Extended Security Maintenance for at least another 3 years. Admittedly, in a commercial setup only.

It is rough to expect to pin to fixed hardware, OS, middleware configuration, but Qt providing all benefits and updates. Again, we have been doing it for a longer period now.

BR,
Maurice

Confidential

From: Development <development-bounces at qt-project.org>On Behalf Of Scott Bloom
Sent: Monday, 21 September 2026 20:52
To: Vladimir Minenko <vladimir.minenko at qt.io>; development at qt-project.org
Subject: Re: [Development] Windows 10's EOL in Qt

Isnt there a difference of development for “Windows” vs “The Windows Store” ?

I have been developing for windows with and without Qt for almost 35 years (including when you could get a “certified for windows) sign off.  Mostly, if it compiles , links and comes with an installer/uninstaller, you are good to go for “windows”.

If your installer includes the VS runtime libraries, the program will run on any version of windows that supports that runtime version.

Windows store, is a very different beast.

I always looked at the “Qt support for windows” being much closer to the “will run on windows and CAN be put in the store” as opposed to simply “Can run and install on XXX versions of windows”

Scott

From: Development <development-bounces at qt-project.org<mailto:development-bounces at qt-project.org>>On Behalf Of Vladimir Minenko via Development
Sent: Monday, September 21, 2026 06:27
To: development at qt-project.org<mailto:development at qt-project.org>
Subject: Re: [Development] Windows 10's EOL in Qt

Hi,

I think there is a danger in mixing different topics in one discussion.

Qt has never supported Windows Server; it was only known to be compatible so that one can make Qt build and run on a Windows Server.

I am not aware of any plans to start removing some code for Windows 10 support specifically, but this might still happen, since there will be no CI for Windows 10 for 6.13 and later. Some other code changes might come in, and no one would notice this since they have only been tested on Windows 11. If users need Qt on Windows 10, they should consider moving to Qt 6.12 LTS which will be commercially supported until 203, see https://www.qt.io/blog/windows-10-eol-plans-in-qt.

With all this, I would have no objections to having something in the code to make/keep Qt being just compatible with Windows Server.

--
Vladimir

On 18. Sep 2026, at 14:44, Schmertmann, Lars via Development <development at qt-project.org<mailto:development at qt-project.org>> wrote:

Hi everyone,

we just removed the inoffical support for Windows Server 2016 (based on
Windows 10 [1607]) for Qt 6.13.0 [1].

Because our customers request to support Windows Server 2019 (based on
Windows 10 [1809]) until 9. Jan. 2029 [2] and Windows Server 2022
(based on Windows 10 [21H2]) until 14. Okt. 2031 [3] we would like to
no fully remove the support of Windows 10 with Qt 6.13.0.

It could be a solution when the Windows 10 specific code will not be
removed but moved into blocks with "#ifdef QT_WIN_SERVER_2019_COMPAT"
or "#ifdef QT_WIN_SERVER_2022_COMPAT". So it is still easy for people
to compile Qt for own usage with Windows Server compatibility.

[1]
https://codereview.qt-project.org/c/qt/qtbase/+/771497
[2]
https://learn.microsoft.com/de-de/lifecycle/products/windows-server-2019
[3]
https://learn.microsoft.com/de-de/lifecycle/products/windows-server-2022

Mit freundlichen Grüßen / Sincerely yours
Lars Schmertmann
Softwareentwickler
AusweisApp
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