Support for Windows 10 will end in October 2025, but after that, Microsoft will offer users an additional year of security updates for a modest $30 fee.
This price for extended security updates (ESUs) is only for ordinary users, while Microsoft’s corporate customers will have to pay $61 for the first year, $122 for the second year, and $244 for the third year of updates.
«Registered PCs will continue to receive critical and important security updates for Windows 10, but new features, bug fixes, and technical support will no longer be available»,” explains Yusuf Mehdi, executive vice president and general manager of consumer marketing at Microsoft.
It will be possible to register for the ESU program «closer to the end of support in 2025».
This short timeframe for providing additional updates for regular customers is likely due to the fact that Microsoft wants to aggressively engage them in upgrading to Windows 11, which in turn may involve buying a new PC. Millions of computers cannot officially upgrade to Windows 11 due to stricter hardware requirements and Microsoft’s security enhancements with its latest OS — Windows 11 is only supported on CPUs released since 2018 and on devices that support TPM security chips.
Although the distribution of Windows 11 is still lagging behind Windows 10, in September, for example, the new OS briefly became the most popular PC game among Steam users.
Source: The Register, The Verge
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