Microsoft's End-of-Life plans for Windows 10 have been known for years. The OS is hitting its end-of-life date this October, which typically means no more free security updates and no more feature updates. However, Windows 10 users will have the option of opting in for a year of ‘extended support'.

End of life and end of support are terms that refer to the end of technical support and security updates for Windows 10. After 10 years, this older version of Windows will no longer receive free software updates from Windows Update, technical assistance, or security fixes. For consumers, end of support means that Microsoft recommends updating to the latest version of Windows for the latest critical updates.

On October 14th, Windows 10 will reach EoL status. However, the ESU programme, which provides extended support for legacy operating systems for an annual fee, will ensure additional support after this date. Typically, the ESU programme costs $30 a year to make use of, and for that price, Microsoft will still issue critical security updates and offer technical support, but there will be no additional ‘feature' upgrades.

You can opt into the ESU for Windows 10 for free for the first year by enabling Windows Backup to sync your backups to OneDrive. The catch is that you only get 5GB of OneDrive storage for free, which won't be enough to back up all of your files. So to take advantage of the ‘free' year of extended support for Windows 10, you'll need to pay Microsoft for extra OneDrive storage. The workaround for this is to use your Microsoft Reward points to pay for extended security instead.

The extended security programme for Windows 10 will end on October 13th 2026, but enterprise customers will have the option of paying for an extra three years of support.

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KitGuru Says: Are you still running Windows 10 on your main PC?

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