Windows 10 is officially dying next October — but you can get a year of extra support for $30

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Windows 10 logo
(Image credit: Microsoft)

For those of us who haven't moved on to Windows 11, support for Windows 10 will officially end on October 14, 2025. However, Microsoft has announced that you can purchase one extra year of Extended Security Updates (ESU) for $30, which is the first time the company has done this.

There are some caveats when it comes to this extended support. In a blog post, Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's Executive Vice President and Consumer Chief Marketing Officer, explained, "Enrolled PCs will continue to receive Critical and Important security updates for Windows 10; however, new features, bug fixes, and technical support will no longer be available from Microsoft."

This means that your Windows 10 devices will remain secure for at least a year, but you're on your own for anything else.

Additionally, Mehdi notes that you won't be able to sign up for the extension until "closer to the end of support in 2025." Presumably, this points to September, but Microsoft did not provide a more specific range.

Of course, Microsoft is encouraging people who are using Windows 10 to make the leap to Windows 11. "With the Windows 10 End of Support moment, now is the time to move to Windows 11 with confidence,” says Mehdi.

This may be harder than Mehdi claims, as thousands of PCs can't upgrade to the current iteration of Windows 11, 24H2, thanks to a number of incompatibility issues. This week it was revealed that the 24H2 update is also crashing Intel motherboards.

If you are one of the lucky few who can access 24H2, it does introduce a number of interesting new features. Plus, with more stringent requirements to run Windows 11, you may have to get a new PC, like one of the best Windows laptops.

Windows 10 was supposed to die in 2023, but Microsoft reopened the beta program earlier this year, and it has continued to support the solid operating system. With all of the current problems facing Windows 11, 10 may be unkillable.

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Scott Younker
Scott Younker
West Coast Reporter

Scott Younker is the West Coast Reporter at Tom’s Guide. He covers all the lastest tech news. He’s been involved in tech since 2011 at various outlets and is on an ongoing hunt to build the easiest to use home media system. When not writing about the latest devices, you are more than welcome to discuss board games or disc golf with him. 

1 Comment Comment from the forums
  • Primo S
    $30 is approximately 1/3rd of the price of an official OEM copy of Windows. For only one year of updates, that is a terrible value. It also doesn't solve the problem that people have, which is the artificial system requirements that restrict their perfectly-running PCs from upgrading to Windows 11. So even if these people decide to spend $30 and wait one year later, they will still have a PC that will not have updates. I have heard that there are private companies that are willing to provide their own Windows security for a fee. If MS doesn't get this right, users may use these companies instead.
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