The end of support for Windows 10 is scheduled for October 14, 2025. For those who would like to continue receiving security updates, Microsoft has announced the Extended Security Program. The Redmond firm reveals the price of this subscription and different rules.
$61 per year to benefit from the program
As surprising as it may seem, Microsoft will charge for security updates after the end of support for Windows 10. The operating system will not be entitled to any fixes or additional features: it is only a matter of extending the protection of a machine for an annual cost of $61.
The Extended Security Program will last three years. The updates will be cumulative and if you join later, you will have to pay for previous years.
This means that if you join the program during the second year, you will have to pay for two years, or $122. The bill will be $183 to receive all updates if you subscribe from the third year.
IT administrators will be able to enroll Windows 10 machines in the Extended Security Program using the traditional 5-by-5 activation method with a 25-character key. Businesses using cloud-based update management solutions will receive a 25% discount. This gets the first year for $45 per user for up to five devices.
Businesses that use Windows 365 to access cloud-based Windows 11 PCs will be eligible for the program for free.
The Extended Security Program, a “temporary bridge”
Microsoft indicates, however, that the Extended Security Program is not a long-term solution, but a “temporary bridge” during the transition to a newer version of Windows. Understand Windows 11 or, in the future, Windows 12 which has fallen behind schedule.