Microsoft confirms new fee to continue using Windows 10 safely next year — will YOU pay?
Windows 10, which launched back in 2015, is still used by millions of people worldwide
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You'll need to spend $30 — roughly £23 — to continue to receive critical patches for security flaws and vulnerabilities in Windows 10 from next year, Microsoft has confirmed. You'll be able to enrol your Windows 10 laptop or desktop PC in the paid scheme in the coming months, closer to the October 14, 2025 deadline for support.
Yes, if you missed the memo, Microsoft will end support for Windows 10, which was released worldwide in July 2015 and was widely marketed at the time as the “final” iteration of Windows, in October next year. This is despite the fact that twice as many people still rely on Windows 10 than its successor, Windows 11— although that is (slowly) starting to fall as the deadline approaches.
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Windows 11 reworks the design of the operating system and brings the iconic Start Menu to the centre of the screen for the first time MICROSOFT PRESS OFFICE Using an operating system that's no longer actively supported carries huge risks as security flaws being actively exploited by cybercriminals will never be fixed, leaving your personal information, photos and videos, and payment information permanently exposed. If you’re unable to upgrade to Windows 11, or simply want to stick with the operating system you're familiar with, Microsoft will offer an olive branch ...albeit at a cost.
Known as Extended Security Updates (ESU), this subscription unlocks up to three years of additional support for ageing operating systems, extending the lifecycle of Windows 10 until the end of 2028. ESU was previously reserved for businesses to offer 36 months of additional time to update their entire fleet of PCs and ready proprietary software to work with the latest operating system from Microsoft.
Windows 10 marks the first time Microsoft will offer Extended Security Updates to anyone.
Enterprise users will need to spend as much as $427 — roughly £329 converted, for a three-year ESU subscription, Microsoft confirmedearlier in the year.
The per-device cost of these security fixes increases every year to incentivise people to upgrade to the most recent iteration of the Windows operating system. It starts at $61 (£48.19) for the first year, rising to $122 (£96.39) for the second year, which will fall in 2027, and topping out at $244 (£192.78) per PC in the third and final year of ESU.
In comparison, the $30 (£23) ESU subscription cost for consumers seems like a comparative bargain.
In a newly-published blog post, Executive Vice President and Consumer Chief Marketing Officer Yusuf Mehdi described the decision to open-up the scheme to everyday customers with Windows 10 machines.
"We understand that some of you may require additional time while moving to a new Windows 11 PC or Copilot+ PC. During this period, you may wish to take steps to help secure your existing PC.
"As previously announced, we will offer our Extended Security Updates (ESU) program. Enrolled PCs will continue to receive Critical and Important security updates for Windows 10; however, new features, bug fixes and technical support will no longer be available from Microsoft. And for the first time ever, we’re introducing an ESU program for personal use as well. The ESU program for consumers will be a one-year option available for $30. Program enrollment will be available closer to the end of support in 2025."
Microsoft has previously described the optional Extended Security Updates subscription as “a last resort option for customers who need to run certain legacy Microsoft products past the end of support", adding that “Extended Security Updates are not intended to be a long-term solution but rather a temporary bridge."
It offers a maximum of 36 months of additional security updates and emergency bug fixes for enterprise customers or governments. So far, Microsoft has only confirmed a one-year plan for consumers.
Businesses who are subscribed to a cloud-based solution like Intune or Windows Autopatch will enjoy a 25% discount on Extended Security Updates. Microsoft is offering an even more generous discount to schools, with the first year of ESU dropping to just $1 (79p), this doubles to $2 for year two and $4 for the final year.
Prices have risen sharply for Windows users looking to put off the upgrade to the next major operating system release from Microsoft. When it introduced the ESU plan was introduced for Windows 7, Microsoft charged £9.57 for the first year, rising to £19.15 in the second year. That cost was per device, so things can become pretty pricey if you have a few devices, like a laptop, desktop PC, or tablet.
Some industry watchers had speculated that Microsoft would be forced to offer extended support for Windows 10 at no extra cost due to the vast number of PCs still powered by the operating system.
However, despite the widespread usage, Microsoft is seemingly set on charging for the privilege.
This has allowed rival Google to take advantage of the situation to bolster its own marketshare of desktop PCs by offering a free upgrade for all Windows 10 users to its ChromeOS system, which is based on the world's most popular web browser and boasts years of security updates and support. A third-party solution, dubbed 0patch, has offered to undercut Microsoft's ESU pricing with its own security fixes.
There’s no guarantee that your current PC will be able to upgrade to Windows 11. With this rebooted operating system, Microsoft introduced several strict system requirements.Windows 11 only officially supportsIntel’s 8th Generation (known as Coffee Lake) or Zen 2 CPUs and newer, leaving millions of devices sold with Windows 10 preinstalled unable to upgrade.
Following a public backlash, Microsoft did add a number of exceptions to its list of supported chipsets, including the 7th Generation Intel Core i7-7820HQ – a processor that was used in the Surface Studio 2, an all-in-one desktop machine that cost £3,549 at launch back in 2018.
Windows 10 launched back in July 2015, meaning it'll have been on the market for a decade by the time support is pulled by Microsoft next year GETTY IMAGES Nevertheless, this marks the first time that Microsoft has enforced such specific processor requirements with its operating system upgrade.
In comparison, Windows 8 and Windows 10 only stipulated a 1GHz processor, at least 1GB of RAM, and 16GB of available storage. Windows 11 requires an Intel processor first launched in October 2017 as well as 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.
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According to Microsoft, the stricter silicon requirements enable a better experience for those running Windows 11, with a 60% reduction in malware thanks to the requirements that “enable protections like Windows Hello, Device Encryption, virtualization-based security (VBS), hypervisor-protected code integrity (HVCI) and Secure Boot.” It also claims a “99.8% crash free experience” on machines with components from its list of supported hardware.
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