As we edge nearer to Home windows 10's end-of-support on October 14, 2025, Microsoft is throwing its extra cussed customers one other bone. The corporate beforehand introduced that, for the primary time, customers would be capable to buy one 12 months of Home windows 10 Prolonged Safety Updates (ESUs) for $30. Right this moment, Microsoft revealed that you just'll additionally be capable to use 1,000 reward factors to snap up an ESU. That might be useful if, like me, you've been slowly amassing Microsoft Rewards and fully forgot they existed. (You’ll be able to earn factors by looking out on Bing, purchasing on the Microsoft retailer and enjoying Xbox video games.)
To recap, the Home windows 10 ESU will get customers bug fixes, safety updates and technical help till October 13, 2026. For those who don't pay for the ESU, you may nonetheless maintain utilizing Home windows 10, you simply received't get any main updates. On the very least, although, Microsoft will proceed to ship MS 365 app safety updates, in addition to Home windows Defender antivirus intelligence updates, till October 2028. I'd additionally wager you'll begin to see loads of notifications nagging you to replace to Home windows 11 after this October.
Microsoft says Home windows 10 customers will be capable to enroll in its ESU by notifications and Home windows Settings. The enrollment wizard is at the moment out there to Home windows Insider testers, and the corporate plans to start out rolling it out to basic customers in July, with large availability in mid-August.
I can perceive why Home windows 10 customers can be reluctant to maneuver. It was a rock strong improve after the fiasco of Home windows 8, and it's merely annoying to readjust your total workflow for a complete new OS. However I additionally appreciated Home windows 11 when it debuted in 2021, because it provided a extra refined Home windows expertise. Microsoft has additionally addressed most of my considerations with Home windows 11 by now — for instance, you may lastly see app names on the duty bar once more, as an alternative of getting them hidden for the sake of aesthetics.
This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/windows-10-users-can-get-extended-security-updates-for-1000-microsoft-rewards-points-170023129.html?src=rss