Microsoft has begun marketing Extended Security Updates (ESU) to businesses and educational institutions. They thus benefit from security updates up to three years after the end of official support for Windows 10. On the other hand, consumers must be satisfied with a one-year extension.
Microsoft will end support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025, except for certain LTSC editions. In other words, no new updates will be issued for the operating system, including security updates. Businesses and educational institutions that want to continue using Windows 10 a little longer on select machines can purchase an Extended Security Updates license.
Its marketing began on November 1, Microsoft indicates on its website. These are “5 by 5 licenses” that allow organizations to obtain an activation key and configure it on individual Windows 10 devices that need to integrate with the ESU program. The first update under the ESU program will be released in November 2025, when official support for Windows 10 ends.
An ever more expensive license
Microsoft considers this license as a gateway allowing businesses and organizations to give themselves sufficient time to upgrade to the more recent version of Windows 11. For all intents and purposes, note that the ESU license therefore only provides systems with updates. security and no other updates. What’s more, the price of the license is always more expensive. In the first year, businesses pay $61 for a basic license, but in the second and third years, that price doubles. After the third year, deferral is no longer possible, but companies and organizations really need to upgrade to the new version.
For consumers, however, the program takes a different form. End users can only get one year of additional security updates for computers running Windows 10, or $30 per computer. After this first year, end users will need to upgrade to Windows 11. Additionally, consumers will not be able to participate in the ESU program until later. The exact date is not yet known.
Microsoft indicates, however, that Defender Antivirus for Windows 10 will receive new definition updates until at least October 2028.
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