Microsoft: Update extension for Windows 10 for private customers specified

In November last year, Microsoft announced that private customers would also be able to receive an extended support period for Windows 10. Now the company is specifying how it envisages this. Even a “free version” is included.

In a blog post, Microsoft first discusses the benefits of Windows 11 in detail and then briefly discusses the Windows 10 Extended Security Updates (ESU). To continue to protect the PCs of Windows 10 users during the transition period to Windows 11 after the end of support on October 14, 2025, Microsoft will continue to deliver monthly “critical and important security updates” in the ESU program. However, as Microsoft does not intend this to be a long-term solution, there will be no new features, non-security updates, design changes or technical support.

One year grace period

“For the first time ever, private Windows 10 PCs can participate in the ESU program and receive monthly critical and important security updates for one year after support ends in October,” Microsoft specifies there. This means that private customers will apparently not be able to receive the ESU, which is available to business customers, for up to three years – as things currently stand.

An ESU wizard should appear through the Windows notifications and in the Windows settings, which will make it easy to participate in the ESU program directly from the affected PC. This wizard has three options for participation. First, interested parties can activate Windows Backup, which synchronizes the settings to the cloud – this is free of charge and is sufficient to activate the ESU. Secondly, users can redeem Microsoft Reward points. This requires 1000 points and there are no additional costs. And finally, the third and last option is to pay 30  US dollars, although “local prices may vary”.

After selecting an option and following the displayed steps, the PC will receive the ESU updates. Specifically, the consumer ESU period runs from October 15, 2025, to October 13, 2026. The EU Accession Wizard is available today in the Windows Insider Program and will be distributed as an option to Windows 10 customers in July. Microsoft is planning general availability from mid-August 2025.

For business customers, there are the usual ESU options, which cost 61  US dollars per machine per year and are available for up to three years after the official end of support. However, subsequent years will cost more. The Business ESU will be available in the Microsoft Volume Licensing Program from today. Cloud service providers will offer it from September 1, 2025. For cloud and virtual environments accessed by Windows 10 devices, Microsoft will automatically offer the ESU at no additional cost – Admins don't have to do anything, it's automatic.

ESU really free of charge?

Whether the Windows backup option can really be considered free depends heavily on how much data Microsoft pushes to the cloud storage. Only settings hardly take up any space, but documents, programs, images, and the like are often much larger than the free 5 GB provided by Microsoft in OneDrive. Users receive Microsoft Reward points for using Microsoft services such as Bing search or the Bing AI functions. Here, interested parties pay with their data.

(dmk)