Loyal Windows 10 users must pay to receive security updates
According to Aetna and quoted from slasherAs with any new version of Windows, not everyone can use Windows 11. Some PCs don’t meet Windows 11’s hardware requirements, so Microsoft has a solution for them: pay more to keep using Windows 10.
Specifically, Microsoft charges an annual subscription fee for what it calls Extended Security Updates (ESU) for Windows 10. As explained in a post on Microsoft’s website, these rolling updates fix core Windows 10 vulnerabilities but won’t add new features, design changes or technical support.
In previous end-of-life extensions of previous versions of Windows, the ESU option was only available to enterprise customers, but this time the company has generously made it available to regular users as well. ESU updates will be available for three years.
Windows 10 Extended Security Updates will incur an annual subscription fee
October 14, 2025 is the official date set by Microsoft to end support for Windows 10. This period is a little more than 10 years after the first release of this operating system in 2015. At the same time, Windows 10 is still much more popular than its successor. Approximately 68% of Windows users use version 10 and less than 27% use Windows 11.
In Microsoft’s end-of-support update for Windows 10, the announcement of the possibility of using the ESU subscription is at the bottom of the page. The document spends most of its length urging users to upgrade from Windows 10 to 11, even if that means buying a new PC that supports the new version of Windows.
It is clear that more than two years after the release of Windows 11 in 2021, many users are still hesitant about switching to this version, and there are several reasons for this hesitation. First, their current computer may not have the hardware to support it. Second, new versions of Windows have always been slow to pick up, so people who love Windows 10 may worry that they won’t feel the same way about 11. Finally, Windows 11 settings should be changed after installation to remove some annoying ads and bloatware. Regardless of the reasons for users, Microsoft clearly wants to make this old version of Windows 10 the least attractive to users once support ends.
