WE ALL KNOW the story by now: Win11 was a free upgrade, but two thirds of the world’s systems are still running Win10. Now, Microsoft has a more compelling reason for you to make the move: support for Win10 is coming to an end on October 14, 2025. After that, extended support is to move to a subscription model.
This is nothing new for commercial customers, who run lots of systems and don’t want to interrupt operations. However, this is the first time the service will be offered to individuals en masse. The Extended Security Updates program is aimed at keeping systems protected, with no new features. This is going to be a little bit of a shock for people used to using Windows for free. There’s no indication of prices yet, but commercial ESU licenses aren’t cheap. Win7 Pro’s ESU program was $50 for the first year, rising to $150 in the third (it finally ended in January 2023). Set the price too high, and it becomes a stick to beat those who won’t, or can’t, upgrade.