If you can’t give up Windows 10 OS, Microsoft will let you pay for three more years of additional support
Security patches on Windows 10 will arrive for some time, but after that period, the company Microsoft would love for you to pay her to get updates.
First, some good news. If you plan to stay on Windows 10 for a while, Microsoft will continue to provide support until October 14, 2025. Bad news? If you plan to stay longer than that and receive future security upgrades, you'll need to sign up for the company's Extended Security Support (ESU) program, which will cost you. This time money, not nerves.
According to information from Bleeping Computer, the upcoming version of Windows 10 22H2 will be the last release of Windows 10, and will be supported until October 2025. After that, unless you're using releases with a long-term service channel that are mostly used for things like industrial equipment and medical applications, you'll need to sign up for an ESU subscription to receive security updates, and pricing will be announced at a later date.
Still unknown price of Windows 10 extended support
Given that organizations using Windows 7 PCs with an extended Enterprise Edition license have been paying $25 per device since the first year, and then a surprising $100 per device in the third year, this announcement may be prohibitive for business owners who want to maintain the security of their current Windows 10 systems beyond October of next year, if this pricing model continues.
Shutterstock / Anton WatmanHowever, this is the first time that Microsoft has allowed ordinary users to use the ESU program, and as a result it is difficult to estimate how much a subscription might cost if you are using a Windows 10 installation on a personal computer. We hope that the prices will be significantly cheaper, although time will tell if that will happen.
While this may not concern those already using Windows 11 PCs, it's important to remember that many systems are still not technically supported by the latest version of Microsoft's operating system, due to its controversial TPM and supported CPU requirements. While there are methods to overcome these restrictions, leaving those users out in the cold, unless they're willing to play with the installer or pay a fee next year, seems more than a little unfair.
And while some may argue that operating system support must end at some point, according to the latest Steam hardware surveya surprising 53.53 percent of respondents reported still using Windows 10, so Windows 11 adoption still seems a bit slow.
The OS really wasn't to everyone's liking at launch, and while it's certainly evolved over time, don't forget the users with perfectly decent but unsupported PCs that still show no signs of being included in the upgrade process.