Microsoft has made a significant change to its support policy for Windows 10. After ending official support for the operating system in 2025, the company initially offered a one-year extended update program. However, it seems that this was not enough time for users to transition to Windows 11, as Microsoft has now added another year to the Extended Security Updates (ESU) program.
The ESU program is designed to provide continued security updates and support for Windows 10 machines beyond their official end-of-life date. The original plan was to end extended updates on October 12, 2026, but Microsoft has updated its policy to push this deadline back to October 12, 2027.
This change will come as a relief to many users who are still clinging to Windows 10. Despite the availability of Windows 11 for nearly five years now, there are still hundreds of millions of active Windows 10 installs. According to StatCounter data, Windows 10 is still running on about 26 percent of PCs, while Windows 11 sits at 72 percent.
Microsoft’s decision to extend support for Windows 10 may be seen as a sign that the company is struggling to get users to upgrade to its newer operating system. The AI-driven shortage of storage and memory has made system upgrades vastly more expensive, potentially slowing upgrades. Some have also avoided Windows 11 due to Microsoft’s intense focus on AI features.
To join the ESU program, users can look for the enrollment option in the Windows Update menu. Customers in the EU get these updates for free, but in other regions, they need to sign in with a Microsoft account and sync their system settings to be eligible for free updates. Otherwise, it costs $30 (or 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points) to join the program.
It’s worth noting that this change only applies to personal use, and businesses will still need to pay per device for Windows 10 updates. However, the ESU license works on up to 10 devices, and Microsoft stresses that this is for personal use only.
The prevalence of Windows across so many devices and form factors has given Microsoft a massive customer base for decades. However, it has also stymied the company’s efforts to roll out new operating systems. Microsoft famously extended the support window for Windows XP numerous times throughout the 2010s as it became apparent that millions of PCs would never be updated.
Windows 10 isn’t quite as entrenched as XP was, but it has still been a slog getting people to upgrade to Windows 11. Unlike many past Windows updates, Windows 11 required some users to buy new PCs with specific CPU technologies and a Trusted Platform Module (TPM). Microsoft was widely criticized for excluding perfectly serviceable PCs, and that’s turning into a problem in 2026.
Source: Original article