The Department of Defence has finally ditched Microsoft’s long out-of-support Windows XP operating system and made the jump to Windows 10.

The veteran Windows XP user announced the completed migration of its 100,000 personnel across Australia to the replacement operating system on Friday.

It follows the delivery of new IT platforms from Leidos under the long-running next-generation project desktop that it said would sustain Windows 10 and other associated systems.

Defence had been one of only a handful of federal government agencies to remain a Windows XP user despite the product reaching end-of-life back in April 2014.

It had continued to pay for Windows XP support until June 2019 after it signed a $2.8 million deal with Microsoft in July 2017.

Announcing the shift to Windows 10 on Friday, Assistant Minister for Defence David Fawcett said the new platforms would support a “contemporary end user environment”.

“The delivery of this platform enabled the End User Computing project to migrate over 100,000 Defence users from Windows XP to Windows 10,” he said in a statement.

He said the department had partnered with Leidos to provide ongoing sustainment for Windows 10 through a three-year agreement valued at $69.59 million.

The agreement will see Leidos manage access to applications for users and maintain a reliable and secure IT capability.

Last week Leidos landed a $500 million gig with the department for its long-awaited project to improve the integration of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.