We’re only a few months away from that dreaded 14 October date, when Microsoft will officially end support for Windows 10. Unless, of course, you’re willing to cough up the $30 for another year of purely security-related updates.
Or at least, that was the plan. The company has backtracked on its original Extended Security Updates (ESU) plan somewhat, now offering customers the ability to grab another year of updates entirely for free. Kinda.
There’s always a catch…
Anyone deadset on sticking with Windows 10 on their personal computer until its bitter end (or they can’t quite make the jump to Windows 11 yet) has three options. The first of those is to simply pay the $30 (∼R530) for a year’s worth of security updates. Or, if you have 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points saved up, you can spend those to enrol in the ESU program. The third option is free, but it’ll require some sacrifices.
If it’s ‘free’ you’re after, you’ll need to enable Windows Backup on your personal computer to sync your folders and settings to the cloud to get the free updates. On the surface, this isn’t a big deal. Windows Backup, however, uses OneDrive, so if you exceed, or are close to exceeding, the 5GB free limit, you’ll likely need to spend R40/m or R400/year for the Microsoft 365 Basic tier, which offers 100GB of cloud storage.
Read More: Microsoft delays pulling the plug on Windows 10 Office support by 3 years
Regardless of your choice, you’ll have to wait until July before you can let Microsoft know you’ll be sticking around just a little bit longer, according to Yusuf Mehdi, executive VP and consumer CMO at Microsoft.
“An enrollment wizard will be available through notifications and in Settings, making it easy to enroll in ESU directly from your personal Windows 10 PC,” he said in a blog post. “Starting today, the enrollment wizard is available in the Windows Insider Program and will begin rolling out as an option to Windows 10 customers in July, with broad availability expected by mid-August.”
Notice how Mehdi only mentions personal devices? That bit is important. The ESU programme we’ve described doesn’t extend to businesses looking to keep using Windows 10 for a little longer. Doing this will cost organisations $61 (∼R1,085) to receive “monthly critical and important security updates for one year.” This can be extended for up to three years, though the price will continue to rise each October.
