(Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)
UPDATE 4/5/24: Microsoft says an Extended Security Update (ESU) license for businesses will cost $61 per device for one year. That price will double every consecutive year, for up to three years. Businesses can purchase these licenses starting in October 2024. Education customers, meanwhile, will pay $1 per license for the first year, $2 the following year, and $4 the third year.
Details on ESU licenses for consumers will be announced "at a later date...on our consumer end of support page," Microsoft says.
Original Story 12/3/23:Microsoft will officially end support for Windows 10 on Oct. 14, 2025. But if you desperately need to keep using that older operating system rather than upgrading to Windows 11, you can pay to extend the expiration date, Microsoft announced today.
This Extended Security Update (ESU) program will be available to individuals as well as corporate clients for up to three years. In the past, this has only been an option for business installations. Windows watchers have been calling for such an option.
The announced program will be a boon to those who can't upgrade to Windows 11 because they use older, less-secure hardware, including PCs with no TPM security chip or those using older CPUs. But it’s also good for Microsoft in at least two ways: as a push to move people to the newer OS version and as a revenue stream. The latter will likely be less significant than the money coming from corporations wanting to extend the life of the OS they use on hundreds or thousands of PCs.
How Much Will It Cost to Use Window 10 After 2025?
The extended support will be available as a yearly subscription for up to three years, but Microsoft has not yet released pricing for individual PC users. It’s still almost two years away, so you have time to save up.
What Will Extended Security Updates Include?
The program only covers security updates. Microsoft’s blog post on the ESU program notes the following limitations:
- This program will include critical and/or important security updates.
- Extended security updates do not include new features, customer-requested non-security updates, or design change requests. Technical support beyond the ESU itself is also not available.
As you might expect, the post encourages users to upgrade to newer PC hardware that can run Windows 11, which is a free upgrade. The blog post touts Windows 11’s ability to run its Copilot generative AI tool, but we recently learned that Windows 10 is getting Copilot as well.
It also notes touts the Windows 365 cloud streaming OS service, but that’s available only to corporate customers. Those who use that cloud option on Windows 10 PCs will get the ESUs at no extra cost. For more details on the program, check Microsoft’s Windows Lifecycle FAQ, which will be updated with the new extended security update information.