Windows 10 at the office: this year the extension costs double

Windows 10 support ended on 14 October 2025. Any business that kept Windows 10 PCs and wants to keep getting security updates has one official option: Microsoft's Extended Security Updates (ESU) program. And this year that program costs double.

The numbers

From Microsoft's own page:

• 61 dollars per PC for the first year.
• The price doubles every year, for up to three years.
• If you join in year two, you pay for year one too. ESU is bought by the year and is cumulative; you can't buy half a year or just the second one.
• It only applies to Windows 10 version 22H2.
• No new features and no technical support, only critical and important security updates.

For an office with 10 PCs:

• year one: 610 dollars
• year two: 1,220 dollars
• year three: 2,440 dollars

That's 4,270 dollars in total to keep the same machines exactly as they are. For that money you can replace quite a few of them.

The exception: Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019

There is an exception few people remember. Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019 follows a different lifecycle policy (Fixed Lifecycle), 10 years from its release in November 2018, and gets security updates until January 2029, without ESU.

If you already have machines like that, for example tills, counters or production PCs, they are covered for three more years. One catch: this only applies to machines that are already on LTSC 2019. A Windows 10 Pro PC doesn't switch to LTSC with a click; it needs a clean install and a volume licence.

Bypassing the TPM check for Windows 11: it works, with risk

For PCs without TPM 2.0 or with an older CPU, there are ways to bypass the check and install Windows 11 Pro. They work, but with risk.

Microsoft itself says that on unsupported hardware, devices "aren't guaranteed to receive updates, including but not limited to security updates", won't get support, and that damage due to incompatibility isn't covered by the manufacturer's warranty.

Everything may be fine today, but a future update may fail to install or stop coming. For a machine that holds invoices or runs the till, I wouldn't leave it there for long.

The list before you pay

Before you pay for the next ESU year, make a simple list, one line per PC:

1. Can it move to Windows 11 for free? Microsoft's PC Health Check app tells you in a minute.
2. Is it already on LTSC 2019? Then it's covered until 2029.
3. If not, what's holding it back? Usually it's one program: the ERP, the till, the label printers, some old driver. Ask its vendor if they support Windows 11.
4. ESU or replacement? For machines that are already several years old, the second and third ESU years often cost as much as a new PC.

The list is often shorter than it looks.

Sources: Microsoft, ESU program for Windows 10, Microsoft, Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019 lifecycle, Microsoft, installing Windows 11 on devices that don't meet minimum system requirements.