Microsoft Sets Prices for Windows 10 Extended Security Updates

**Microsoft Sets Prices for Windows 10 Extended Security Updates: What You Need to Know**

---

**Introduction to Extended Security Updates (ESU) for Windows 10**

Hello, everyone! Today, we’re diving into an important topic regarding Microsoft’s recent updates on Windows 10. As you may know, Microsoft is ending support for Windows 10 on **October 14, 2025**. This means that after this date, users will no longer receive free security updates or support from Microsoft unless they opt for extended security updates (ESU).

Starting at $61 for the first year, these ESU licenses are now available for both businesses and consumers. However, it’s important to note that this is the **first time** Microsoft is offering ESUs to home users, as previous offerings were limited to organizations only.

---

**Pricing Details for Extended Security Updates**

The pricing structure for ESUs is as follows:

- **First year:** $61

- **Second year:** $122 (double the first-year price)

- **Third year:** $244 (double the second-year price)

After three years, Microsoft will no longer offer security updates for Windows 10. This means that users who choose to extend their support beyond 2025 will need to pay each consecutive year, with prices doubling annually.

---

**Options for Upgrading or Purchasing New Devices**

While some users may opt to continue using Windows 10 with ESUs, others might consider upgrading to Windows 11. However, Microsoft has strict hardware requirements for Windows 11:

- **CPU Requirements:** Windows 11 is only supported on CPUs released from 2018 onwards.

- **TPM and Security Chips:** Devices must also support Trusted Platform Module (TPM) and security chips.

Unfortunately, millions of older computers do not meet these criteria, making them ineligible for an official upgrade to Windows 11. For those users, the options are limited:

1. **Upgrade Existing Eligible Devices:** If your device meets the hardware requirements, you can upgrade it to Windows 11.

2. **Purchase a New Windows 11 PC:** Invest in a new computer that supports Windows 11.

3. **Migrate to the Cloud with Windows 365:** Use cloud-based services to access Windows 11 on compatible devices.

---

**Considerations for Extending Support on Windows 10**

If you decide to stick with Windows 10, it’s crucial to weigh the costs of extended security updates against other options. Paying $61 for the first year and then doubling that price each subsequent year can add up quickly—$244 in the third year alone is a significant expense.

Rather than paying for ESUs, many users might consider using their money toward purchasing a new computer. After all, Windows 10 will eventually reach its end-of-life in 2025, and staying on an unsupported platform without security updates could pose serious risks.

---

**Alternative Options: Linux as a Viable Choice**

For those who cannot upgrade to Windows 11 or afford the costs of extended support, Linux offers a viable alternative. It’s a cost-effective solution for older computers that can’t run modern versions of Windows. However, it’s important to note that transitioning to Linux may not be ideal for everyone.

Linux comes with its own challenges, particularly if you’re accustomed to using Windows. Some users find the learning curve difficult and may feel discouraged by the sometimes-toxic community surrounding Linux distributions. Still, many people successfully make the switch and enjoy using Linux as their primary operating system.

---

**Final Thoughts and Next Steps**

In conclusion, Microsoft’s decision to end support for Windows 10 in 2025 leaves users with several options:

- **Upgrade to Windows 11:** If your hardware meets the requirements.

- **Purchase a New Device:** Invest in a computer that supports Windows 11.

- **Extend Support on Windows 10:** Pay for ESUs, but be prepared for rising costs.

- **Switch to Linux:** A cost-effective alternative for older devices.

The choice you make depends on your budget, hardware capabilities, and personal preferences. We’d love to hear what you plan to do with your older computer that’s incompatible with Windows 11. Let us know in the comments below!

---

**A Special Shout Out**

Before wrapping up, I want to give a quick shout-out to all my YouTube members who’ve joined the **brch Computer YouTube Members Group**. Whether you’re in Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3, your support means the world to me. A huge thank you for being part of this community!

---

Thank you for watching, and I’ll catch you in the next video or on the Discord server for some great discussions!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhat you guys today we're going to be talking about Microsoft sets the prices for Windows 10 extended security updates now Microsoft is ending support for Windows 10 on October 14th 2025 and you're going to need to pay yearly if you want to continue using that operating system and receive uh system security updates for Windows 10 now Microsoft will offer extended security updates which is your ESU for Windows 10 us with pricing starting at $61 for the very first year and that's what we're going to be talking about in this video now the pricing for additional security updates will be offered to Consumers for the first time uh ever with Windows 10 now business and consumers will need to purchase an ESU license for each Windows 10 device that you plan to keep using after the end of support cut off next year so that is Microsoft's uh policy and that's what they're doing but before we continue let's have a quick word from today's video sponsor CD key sales if you're looking for cheap Windows 11 Pro and cheap Windows 10 Pro OEM Keys then check out the links in the video description head over to CD key sales create yourself an account and use my promo code capital b capital r09 and apply list your order and get a 30% discount on all your purchases they will then send you your key uh once you've purchased it you can use PayPal to pay for your key and then you can activate your version of Windows now a lot of people may be considering upgrading to Windows 11 but unfortunately millions of computers can't upgrade officially to Windows 11 due to Microsoft strict uh Hardware requirements so Windows 11 only supports CPUs released from 2018 and onwards and of course with devices that support TPM and security chips as well so that really does sort of hinder a lot of computers and that makes them obviously not compatible for Windows 11 officially according to Microsoft now normally Microsoft only offer subscriptions for extended security updates to organizations so this is the very first time they've offered this to home users or the consumer market so what does this mean to you well I think Microsoft are going to be releasing pricing for home users a little bit later on these pricings you'll seeing here are for uh business use as you'll see on this particular page here so if you can't afford a computer and you need to continue to use Windows 10 then you have the option to pay for extended security updates and this is the first time like I said that Microsoft have offered this uh for home users so basically is it worth doing it well in my personal opinion I just think it's not worth extending uh for that amount of money because obviously it's it's going to double each time as you can see here stay on suppored version of Windows Microsoft have laid down some options like upgrade existing eligible PCS to Windows 11 unfortunately like we've already said millions don't meet that criteria purchase a new windows 11 PC or migrate to the cloud and subscribe to Windows 365 and make Windows 11 available to users on any device with clad PC ESU so you can see they are offering some options here but again all this comes at a cost to you so what should you do well that's going to be down to you on how much you uh want to value your computer and how whether you want to continue uh using Windows 10 instead of Windows 11 if your system is compatible you can see here note prices will double each con consecutive year for a maximum of 3 years after that obviously they're not going to offer any more security updates if you decide to jump into the program in year two you'll have to pay the first year as well so there is always a way of making money with this particular type of scheme so they are offering I will leave this link in the video description here and they are talking about a $61 us for the first year for each device and I'm not 100% sure whether this is for consumers I like home users I think this is designed for business pricing so maybe they are going to release that information a little bit later on so what does that mean for you in MoneyWise well going by this price scheme for businesses it's going to be $61 then it doubles to $122 for the second year and then for uh the third year it's going to double again to $244 I mean that's a lot of money uh to continue receiving extended security updates on a platform that is basically uh going to die after 3 years so you could put that money towards a new computer now I'm not going to go through all of this article here but I will leave the link in the video description because they are offering some form of discounts as well and they're also offering cloud-based Windows management as well so there's quite a lot inside this article which you can read at your own Leisure and I'll leave that in the video description for you but remember Windows 10 still has 69.4% of the market share so they are still using Windows 10 over Windows 11 so that's quite a lot of money if people uh in businesses choose to go down this route for Microsoft and again home users are still W using Windows 10 because obviously some of these people haven't got modern day computers that will allow them officially to upgrade to Windows 11 now the big problem I see is millions of computers uh out there are not uh upgradeable to Windows 11 officially and that means that they will be St for on Windows 10 now what does that mean that means they're going to have to bite the bullet and either pay for extended security updates and of course that's quite a costly thing to do on an old computer that is not upgradeable officially to Windows 11 so that money can be used for purchasing a new computer now the only problem I see with that is of course is that means that then people could end up being forced to use Windows 10 with without security updates and that is another big risk so what do they do they've got options like install uh Linux which is a good option for some people but it's not really ideal for everyone and that's just the way it is if you've been a Windows user all your life you might not adapt to Linux very well and a lot of people do try Linux and end up coming back to Windows and some people find it okay and they can stay on Linux and if you're one of those people then you've got a solution my only problem with Linux is the actual Community they are pretty toxic especially towards me for some reason I don't understand why because I don't hate Linux at all it's just the fact that they do love to troll a little bit and if that's a community that you want to jump into then by all means do so but it is a viable option nevertheless and there's plenty of flavors to choose from and it could give your old computer a new lease of life and keep it going for a few more years without having to pay any money out the other option is to obviously SP spend some money and build yourself a compatible Windows 11 computer or you can stay on Windows 10 and pay their extortionate fees to receive security updates and uh that's pretty much the only options you have other than that I think that's going to be about it so let me know in the comments section below what you're going to be doing on your uh older computer that is not officially compatible with Windows 11 I'll be interested to read your comments my name is been Bryan from brch computer .co.uk just want to say a quick shout out to all my YouTube members who joined my YouTube members group whether your tier one tier 2 or tier three I really do appreciate the support have a lovely weekend and I'll catch you in the next video or I'll see you on the Discord server for a chat bye for nowwhat you guys today we're going to be talking about Microsoft sets the prices for Windows 10 extended security updates now Microsoft is ending support for Windows 10 on October 14th 2025 and you're going to need to pay yearly if you want to continue using that operating system and receive uh system security updates for Windows 10 now Microsoft will offer extended security updates which is your ESU for Windows 10 us with pricing starting at $61 for the very first year and that's what we're going to be talking about in this video now the pricing for additional security updates will be offered to Consumers for the first time uh ever with Windows 10 now business and consumers will need to purchase an ESU license for each Windows 10 device that you plan to keep using after the end of support cut off next year so that is Microsoft's uh policy and that's what they're doing but before we continue let's have a quick word from today's video sponsor CD key sales if you're looking for cheap Windows 11 Pro and cheap Windows 10 Pro OEM Keys then check out the links in the video description head over to CD key sales create yourself an account and use my promo code capital b capital r09 and apply list your order and get a 30% discount on all your purchases they will then send you your key uh once you've purchased it you can use PayPal to pay for your key and then you can activate your version of Windows now a lot of people may be considering upgrading to Windows 11 but unfortunately millions of computers can't upgrade officially to Windows 11 due to Microsoft strict uh Hardware requirements so Windows 11 only supports CPUs released from 2018 and onwards and of course with devices that support TPM and security chips as well so that really does sort of hinder a lot of computers and that makes them obviously not compatible for Windows 11 officially according to Microsoft now normally Microsoft only offer subscriptions for extended security updates to organizations so this is the very first time they've offered this to home users or the consumer market so what does this mean to you well I think Microsoft are going to be releasing pricing for home users a little bit later on these pricings you'll seeing here are for uh business use as you'll see on this particular page here so if you can't afford a computer and you need to continue to use Windows 10 then you have the option to pay for extended security updates and this is the first time like I said that Microsoft have offered this uh for home users so basically is it worth doing it well in my personal opinion I just think it's not worth extending uh for that amount of money because obviously it's it's going to double each time as you can see here stay on suppored version of Windows Microsoft have laid down some options like upgrade existing eligible PCS to Windows 11 unfortunately like we've already said millions don't meet that criteria purchase a new windows 11 PC or migrate to the cloud and subscribe to Windows 365 and make Windows 11 available to users on any device with clad PC ESU so you can see they are offering some options here but again all this comes at a cost to you so what should you do well that's going to be down to you on how much you uh want to value your computer and how whether you want to continue uh using Windows 10 instead of Windows 11 if your system is compatible you can see here note prices will double each con consecutive year for a maximum of 3 years after that obviously they're not going to offer any more security updates if you decide to jump into the program in year two you'll have to pay the first year as well so there is always a way of making money with this particular type of scheme so they are offering I will leave this link in the video description here and they are talking about a $61 us for the first year for each device and I'm not 100% sure whether this is for consumers I like home users I think this is designed for business pricing so maybe they are going to release that information a little bit later on so what does that mean for you in MoneyWise well going by this price scheme for businesses it's going to be $61 then it doubles to $122 for the second year and then for uh the third year it's going to double again to $244 I mean that's a lot of money uh to continue receiving extended security updates on a platform that is basically uh going to die after 3 years so you could put that money towards a new computer now I'm not going to go through all of this article here but I will leave the link in the video description because they are offering some form of discounts as well and they're also offering cloud-based Windows management as well so there's quite a lot inside this article which you can read at your own Leisure and I'll leave that in the video description for you but remember Windows 10 still has 69.4% of the market share so they are still using Windows 10 over Windows 11 so that's quite a lot of money if people uh in businesses choose to go down this route for Microsoft and again home users are still W using Windows 10 because obviously some of these people haven't got modern day computers that will allow them officially to upgrade to Windows 11 now the big problem I see is millions of computers uh out there are not uh upgradeable to Windows 11 officially and that means that they will be St for on Windows 10 now what does that mean that means they're going to have to bite the bullet and either pay for extended security updates and of course that's quite a costly thing to do on an old computer that is not upgradeable officially to Windows 11 so that money can be used for purchasing a new computer now the only problem I see with that is of course is that means that then people could end up being forced to use Windows 10 with without security updates and that is another big risk so what do they do they've got options like install uh Linux which is a good option for some people but it's not really ideal for everyone and that's just the way it is if you've been a Windows user all your life you might not adapt to Linux very well and a lot of people do try Linux and end up coming back to Windows and some people find it okay and they can stay on Linux and if you're one of those people then you've got a solution my only problem with Linux is the actual Community they are pretty toxic especially towards me for some reason I don't understand why because I don't hate Linux at all it's just the fact that they do love to troll a little bit and if that's a community that you want to jump into then by all means do so but it is a viable option nevertheless and there's plenty of flavors to choose from and it could give your old computer a new lease of life and keep it going for a few more years without having to pay any money out the other option is to obviously SP spend some money and build yourself a compatible Windows 11 computer or you can stay on Windows 10 and pay their extortionate fees to receive security updates and uh that's pretty much the only options you have other than that I think that's going to be about it so let me know in the comments section below what you're going to be doing on your uh older computer that is not officially compatible with Windows 11 I'll be interested to read your comments my name is been Bryan from brch computer .co.uk just want to say a quick shout out to all my YouTube members who joined my YouTube members group whether your tier one tier 2 or tier three I really do appreciate the support have a lovely weekend and I'll catch you in the next video or I'll see you on the Discord server for a chat bye for now\n"