As we edge nearer to Home windows 10’s end-of-support on October 14, 2025, Microsoft is throwing its extra cussed customers one other bone. The corporate beforehand introduced that, for the primary time, shoppers would be capable of buy one 12 months of Home windows 10 Prolonged Safety Updates (ESUs) for $30. As we speak, Microsoft revealed that you will additionally be capable of use 1,000 reward factors to snap up an ESU. That could possibly be useful if, like me, you have been slowly amassing Microsoft Rewards and utterly forgot they existed. (You may earn factors by looking out on Bing, purchasing on the Microsoft retailer and taking part in Xbox video games.)
To recap, the Home windows 10 ESU will get customers bug fixes, safety updates and technical assist till October 13, 2026. In the event you do not pay for the ESU, you possibly can nonetheless hold utilizing Home windows 10, you simply will not get any main updates. On the very least, although, Microsoft will proceed to ship MS 365 app safety updates, in addition to Home windows Defender antivirus intelligence updates, till October 2028. I might additionally wager you will begin to see loads of notifications nagging you to replace to Home windows 11 after this October.
Microsoft says Home windows 10 customers will be capable of enroll in its ESU by means of notifications and Home windows Settings. The enrollment wizard is at present out there to Home windows Insider testers, and the corporate plans to begin rolling it out to basic customers in July, with vast availability in mid-August.
I can perceive why Home windows 10 customers could be reluctant to maneuver. It was a rock strong improve after the fiasco of Home windows 8, and it is merely annoying to readjust your total workflow for an entire new OS. However I additionally appreciated Home windows 11 when it debuted in 2021, because it supplied a extra refined Home windows expertise. Microsoft has additionally addressed most of my considerations with Home windows 11 by now — for instance, you possibly can lastly see app names on the duty bar once more, as an alternative of getting them hidden for the sake of aesthetics.
