If you’re determined to stick with Windows 10 and not make the switch the Windows 11 then you could soon face a new fee to keep you PC safe. Microsoft has already confirmed that it will be ending all support for this popular Operating System (OS) from October 2025 with the US company urging users to make the jump to its latest and greatest OS as soon as possible.
That advice is due to Windows 10 no longer getting any new features or patches to fix security flaws and worrying cyber bugs.
However, despite these urgent warnings, millions are still not budging with Windows 10 continuing to reign supreme as Microsoft’s most-used software across the globe.
Those stats are clearly worrying the technology giant with it now confirming Windows 10 updates will continue past that October 2025 deadline – as long as you are prepared to pay that is.
“While we strongly recommend moving to Windows 11, we understand there are circumstances that could prevent you from replacing Windows 10 devices before the EOS date. Therefore, Microsoft will offer Extended Security Updates,” Microsoft’s Jason Leznek confirmed in an update.
It’s unclear how much this Extended Security Updates (ESU) plan will cost although Microsoft has confirmed that users will be able to purchase a yearly subscription to security updates.
This yearly commitment is then renewable for three years.
“If you are an individual consumer or an organization who elects to continue using Windows 10 after support ends on October 14, 2025, you will have the option of enrolling your PC in the paid Extended Security Updates (ESU) program,” Microsoft confirmed.
“The ESU program enables PCs to continue to receive Critical and Important security updates (as defined by the Microsoft Security Response Center) through an annual subscription service after support ends. More details including pricing will be provided at a later date.”
With many PCs unable to move over to Windows 11 due to compatibility issues the only way for some to access this latest OS and stay safe is to buy a new PC. At least Microsoft’s ESU option will mean users will be able to keep their current devices and not have to splash out on an upgraded laptop.
Hopefully, Microsoft will reveal more news on how much things will cost in the coming months. If you do feel like now is a good time to switch to Windows 11 you’ll find the full system requirements below.
HERE ARE THE FULL SPECS FOR RUNNING WINDOWS 11
Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with two or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor or system on a chip (SoC).
RAM: 4 gigabytes (GB) or greater.
Storage: 64 GB or greater available storage is required to install Windows 11.
Graphics card: Compatible with DirectX 12 or later, with a WDDM 2.0 driver.
TPM: Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0.
