Time’s Running Out: Windows 10’s Final Countdown Begins – 1 Year Left, $30 Annual Security Fee Looms

Microsoft has decided to provide extended security updates to individuals and businesses for a fee for Windows 10, whose technical support will end on October 14 next year. This is the first time that paid extended support for Windows, whose official support has ended, has been provided to individuals. Pricing for Windows 10 Extended Security Updates (ESU) is $30 per year for the first year for individuals and $61 per year for the first year for businesses.

Microsoft announced the pricing of Windows 10 Extended Security Updates on the 31st of last month (local time).

Starting October 14 next year, Windows 10 will no longer receive security updates. We no longer provide bug fixes for issues, security fixes for vulnerabilities, time zone updates, or technical support for issues you may experience. Microsoft highlighted the many benefits of Windows 11 and recommended upgrading to the latest version.

Basically, ESU is a service provided to users who need extra time to upgrade their Windows 10 PC to Windows 11. This service is not aimed at users who want to continue using older versions of Windows instead of upgrading to Windows most recent.

For this reason the price of the ESU increases double compared to the previous year with each renewal. It can be used up to the third year.

Individual users can get additional security support for $30 per year for the first year, but will have to pay $60 for the second year and $120 for the third year. Enterprise customers will pay $61 per device in the first year, $122 in the second year, and $244 in the third year.

The ESU program also does not provide updates such as new features, security fixes, or design changes. Support items included in the ESU program include ESU license activation, installation of the ESU monthly update, and troubleshooting issues you may experience with updates.

There are three ways to grant ESU to businesses. 5-for-5 activation of an existing volume license downloads an activation key and applies it to each Windows 10 PC included in the ESU program. Through Configuration Manager, you can download and apply updates to your device using an installable management tool such as Windows Server Update Service (WSUS).

Alternatively, you can use UDE through a Windows 365 subscription. Windows 10 devices that access Windows 11 Cloud PC with Windows 365 will receive security updates without additional steps. You can use it at no additional cost with a one-year Windows 365 subscription.

You can also activate ESU in the cloud. Organizations using Microsoft Intune or Autopatch, a cloud-based update management solution, can use the ESU program at a 25% discount. If you assign an ESU cloud activation license, you can receive ESU updates for one year on Windows 10 devices without a 5×5 activation key. It is available for $45 per year per user (up to 5 devices) for the first year. The annual doubling of the price remains the same.

Microsoft announced that it will provide ESU for Windows 10 Education licenses at a cost of $1 per year per license. It’s $2 in the second year and $4 in the third year. The Windows 10 Education License is a license provided to elementary, middle, and high school education institutions.

Currently, the latest version of Windows 10 is version 22H2. Security updates will continue to be delivered monthly until October 14 next year. A separate lifecycle support policy applies to Windows 10 Long-Term Service Branch (LTSB) and Long-Term Service Channel (LTSC), which are provided only to enterprise customers with special features. The end of service (EOS) for Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB and LTSC is 10 years after the release date of each version.

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