Many Windows 10 users are eying the Extended Security Updates program for the operating system to extend support by a year. Microsoft announced the program for home users for the first time, and while it decided to limit it to a single year, it may be enough to buy users some time or help them keep on using their trusted PCs.
Microsoft revealed that users had three options to join the ESU program on Windows 10:
- Pay about $30 to receive updates for another year.
- Pay with Microsoft Rewards points.
- Enable the cloud backup functionality of Windows Backup.
While two of the three options do not require any money to change hand, you’d still have to either pay with accumulated points or allow Microsoft to transfer some files to the cloud.
Microsoft announced a new option this week. This one only for users from the EEA region, which includes all EU member states, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Iceland. Microsoft said that users from these countries could join ESU for Windows 10 without completing any of the three options that users from any other region in the world had at their disposal.
This sounded like a great deal on paper for users from the region. However, Microsoft has added another requirement. Users need to sign in with a Microsoft account regularly to stay subscribed.
Here are the details:
- You need to sign in with a Microsoft account for an opportunity to join ESU and start receiving security updates after October 2025.
- You need to do this every 60 days. Microsoft stops delivering ESU-updates to a machine, if no Microsoft account sign-in was recorded in that period.
- Windows 10 users may rejoin ESU by signing in with a Microsoft account again.
This affects Windows 10 users who sign in with local accounts. They need to make sure that they sign in with a Microsoft account every other month to keep on getting the extended security updates.
Microsoft plans to end the program for home users on October 13, 2026. There is a slim possibility that Microsoft might get pressured into extending the program, at least in some regions, but I would not hold my breath.
Now You: Are you using PCs with Windows 10? What is your plan going forward?
…or Win 10 users could just use the massgrave script and get 3 years of ESU for free, no games, without an MS account. Doesn’t seem like a tough decision.