Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system is nearing the end of its lifespan. In October 2025, support for the operating system will officially end. Microsoft has announced that it will provide Extended Security Updates (ESU) for at least three years.
This means that organizations as well as home users can extend the life of their systems by three years. ESU requires a subscription, and Microsoft has published information about that subscription. However, some information is still missing.
Extended Security Updates were introduced to Windows 7 as the Windows 7 operating system nears end of support. At the time, Microsoft offered this service only to organizations. The organization paid $50 in the first year, $100 in the second year, and $200 in the third year to receive these updates. Some smart people have found a way to get these updates on their home machines.
The popularity of Windows 7 has forced Microsoft to step in. Windows 8 wasn’t as popular as Windows 7, but it ended without an ESU from Microsoft.
Windows 10: ESU pricing
Windows 10 is equally popular. It remains the most commonly used version of Windows, even though its successor, Windows 11, was launched three years ago. Not all Windows 10 devices can be upgraded to Windows 11. Experts estimate the number of incompatible Windows 10 devices to be in the hundreds of millions.
Microsoft announced a while ago that it would be offering enhanced security updates for Windows 10. This time, we did not exclude home users from the offer. In other words, anyone running Windows 10 can have their support extended for three years.
That comes at a cost, Microsoft revealed this week. Unfortunately, it’s only for businesses and organizations.
Organizations have three options to extend update support for Windows 10. 5-by-5 activation key, cloud-based activation, or Windows 365 subscription-based activation.
For 5×5 subscription keys: The first year is available for $61 per device. This price doubles every year. This means that organizations must pay $122 in the second year and $244 in the third year to continue receiving Extended Security Updates.
The second option is only available on Windows 10 PCs accessed via Windows 11 Cloud PC. These PCs are automatically included in ESU at no additional cost to your organization.
The third and final option is available for organizations that use Microsoft cloud-based update management solutions such as Microsoft Intune. In these cases, you may receive a 25% discount on your ESU license. This brings the price down to $45 per user (up to 5 devices) for the first year. Prices still double every year.
What about home users?
Microsoft has not disclosed any information regarding ESU pricing for home users. There is still more than a year left until the operating system officially reaches end of support. It’s clear that Microsoft wants organizations and home users to upgrade to Windows 11 instead. This is the first recommendation of this article. The second option is to buy a new PC with Windows 11.
Home users who can’t officially upgrade to Windows 11 and don’t want to (or can’t) buy a new PC are faced with a difficult decision. ESU plans to provide three additional years of updates.
Another option to extend support is to use 0Patch’s services. Third-party micro patch businesses create security patches for various Microsoft products that are no longer supported by Microsoft. Once it expires, the same thing will happen for Windows 10. This also requires a subscription, but it costs about $25 per year.
closing words
Extended security updates aren’t cheap. A three-year subscription is available for $427 ($315 for cloud-based options). Extensions are very expensive when prices for home users are similar.
what about you? Are you running Windows 10 and planning to extend the life of Windows 10 through ESU?
summary
Article name
Microsoft announces Windows 10 ESU pricing: starting at $61
explanation
Microsoft has revealed the pricing for Extended Security Updates (ESU) for the Windows 10 operating system.
author
Martin Brinkman
the publisher
Ghacks Technology News
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