Microsoft Offers $30 Windows 10 Security Extension for Home Users

[windwhirl]

I have 3 Windows 10 computers. Would I have to pay for all of them?

The price is per PC.

The amount of people saying it's okay to pay 30 bucks for security updates is alarming.. lol

I honestly thought straight up nearly no one would pay, not so much for the price itself, but rather because:
1-people here love to go "fuck Macro$hit" and such, lol, so for the people here I'd have thought "nah, no one's paying for this"
2-Everyone else that is not tech-savvy: wouldn't pay because
2.1-Wouldn't know this exists
2.2-Doesn't care
2.3-Doesn't want to spend 30 bucks that could be spent elsewhere.

Really is, because if MS can see people paying for this then they'll be charging for the large yearly updates like 24H2 next.

I don't see it happening? I don't think Microsoft is that crazy to go after the home users that just passively keep Windows' userbase up. Plus, Windows isn't that relevant as a direct money generator (you could argue it makes up for that by being a platform for Microsoft to offer a number of things on and such, but straight up Windows licensing isn't generating that much revenue), so I don't think they want to make home users look into alternative operating systems just for trying to squeeze two more bucks out of them. Then again, some of Microsoft's moves in the past have been eyebrow-raising so we'll see what happens if it happens.

Here's how problems will be solved in the real world...

View attachment 369787

LOL, though true enough, people do buy those. Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021's support ends on 2032, plenty of time.

I'm surprised that the price isn't higher. If someone asked me I would thought it would be higher.

Home users seems to only get the one year extension. Companies can get up to 3 years, but the price doubles each year. Education gets it for 1 dollar per user.

 

[Wirko]

1-people here love to go "fuck Macro$hit" and such, lol, so for the people here I'd have thought "nah, no one's paying for this"
2-Everyone else that is not tech-savvy: wouldn't pay because
2.1-Wouldn't know this exists
2.2-Doesn't care
2.3-Doesn't want to spend 30 bucks that could be spent elsewhere.

Don't forget:
3... We paid $12 for a Win license at everdeals247365.com and $30 seems rather steep in comparison.

 

[trsttte]

The amount of people saying it's okay to pay 30 bucks for security updates is alarming.. lol

Pay 30 bucks for security updates after the announced EOL of the OS.

The context is important. We can spend all day talking about how this opens the door for future cash grab during the regular lifecycle of Windows but like previous versions of windows, support will end eventually. It happened with XP, it happened with 7 and it's now happening with 10.

With windows 7 this option was only offered to companies, but quickly enough savy users found ways to apply those updates for free on their machines. Now they're making a small buck from it instead of restricting it to the few who will always find a way. Doesn't seem all that alarming to me

 

[AGlezB]

I'll be using Win 10 until the last possible minute because IMO the start menu in Win 11 sucks in comparison to Win 10.

That said, a few weeks ago I had to install some virtual machines with 2 different versions of Win 11; one with 24H2 straight from MS and the other one with 22H2 from a company ISO. After working on both versions I can say Win 11 has come a long way and the quality of my user experience was like night and day. At this point I wouldn't mind switching to Win 11 provided I can find a suitable replacement for the start menu, which I think I've found in Stardock's Start11. The price for a 5 PC license amounts to less than year of ESU and provided their license terms are acceptable and my testing goes well that's how I'll roll.

I'm also keeping in mind the rumors about Win 12 releasing late 2025 about the same date when Win 10 goes EOL. It's still too early to tell but if Win 12 is a thing it might be a good idea to wait a bit and skip 11 in favor of 12.

 

[The Terrible Puddle]

Just use Windows 11 and fix it with a script like WinUtil?
You'd want to use that with Windows 10 anyway.

 

[Dr. Dro]

This is not going to work. There will be a huge backlash against Microsoft for trying to capitalise on Win10 and force people into Win11. Typical for-profit BS.

Hold up, since when has Microsoft not been a purely for-profit venture?

 

[lexluthermiester]

Microsoft will allow home users to extend security support for Windows 10 beyond its October 2025 end-of-life date for a $30 fee per year.

That is a LOT more reasonable than I was expecting. So microsoft does something right again?

 

[windwhirl]

That is a LOT more reasonable than I was expecting. So microsoft does something right again?

Well, it is for home users, so Microsoft can't ask for a lot of money. That said, it doesn't seem like they'll allow home users to get more than one year of extra updates.

Business users on the other hand have a $61 price for the first year, doubling each year. Though businesses at least can write that as a business expense and deduct it from taxes and stuff.

Education gets a $1 price, which is mostly symbolic at that point.

 

[_roman_]

Been running 11 from day 1 and it's been a rock solid OS.

I really wonder what your definition is of rock solid Operating System.

I shared in the other topic how the 24h2 update screwed up the visual experience. I had to redo the visuals.

The radeon driver of my Radeon 7800XT is faulty. The previous and the current one. My windows 11pro 24h2 is only used for gaming. I assume would i work with windows 11 pro - i may find more issues on a regular basis. I paused all updates. My windows 24h2 originates from the official microsoft webpage iso image.

You may check pcgameshardware.de and other websites to see weekly articles poping up about Windows 11 screwing up functionality a or b.

 

[TumbleGeorge]

Hmmm, there are a few happy users here willing to pay $30 each and maybe envisioning everything as before with all kinds of OS updates. If I'm not mistaken, it's only about security-related updates. So, don't be too quick to rejoice.

 

[windwhirl]

Hmmm, there are a few happy users here willing to pay $30 each and maybe envisioning everything as before with all kinds of OS updates. If I'm not mistaken, it's only about security-related updates. So, don't be too quick to rejoice.

Not even bug fixes. Purely security issues.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Well, it is for home users, so Microsoft can't ask for a lot of money.

This also seems to apply to home users that have the "pro" version.

 

[chrcoluk]

I'm not going to lie, I didn't expect anyone to pay for it at all.

That aside, 30 dollars is just for the first year, and you only get that year. The other two years seem to be exclusive for Business/Education markets.

For Business, the extra two years will be more expensive than the first.

Post-2025 Windows 10 updates for businesses start at $61 per PC, go up from there

Consumer pricing hasn’t been announced; schools will pay just $1 per user.

arstechnica.com

Currently, but as always things change if the numbers support it, will see how many sign up for it.

 

[Chrispy_]

I wonder if Windows 10 without security patches is still more secure than Windows 11 with all the AI data-harvesting nonsense, Copilot+, Windows Recall, Activity history, extended "diagnostics & feedback", near-mandatory Microsoft account that links your PC to a bunch of Azure/Sharepoint/Fabric services etc.

Don't watch this video if you like wearing tin-foil hats:

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

With the nagging that MS resorted to in order to “convince” people to migrate to Windows 10, I can only imagine how annoying it’s going to get when EOL arrives. Hopefully MS will make this $30 not sound like ransomeware, but they already sound a touch dramatic if you aren’t using an MSA or OneDrive.

 

[windwhirl]

I wonder if Windows 10 without security patches is still more secure than Windows 11

I'd say no. Security isn't the same thing as privacy, which is what you seem to be bringing into the equation.

If you want to talk about privacy/telemetry, I'd probably agree tho. Windows 11 has more more stuff snooping into what you are doing (regardless of the scope of the information that actually gets sent to Microsoft or the volume of it, or the reason for it)

 

[Wirko]

Pay 30 bucks for security updates after the announced EOL of the OS.

The context is important. We can spend all day talking about how this opens the door for future cash grab during the regular lifecycle of Windows but like previous versions of windows, support will end eventually. It happened with XP, it happened with 7 and it's now happening with 10.

With windows 7 this option was only offered to companies, but quickly enough savy users found ways to apply those updates for free on their machines. Now they're making a small buck from it instead of restricting it to the few who will always find a way. Doesn't seem all that alarming to me

Not getting regular random feature updates is one of the best features of Windows 10 lately, and that alone is worth a few [currency units]. One example: taskbar icon size, 3 options, killed in ~August 2024.

 

[Dr. Dro]

I really wonder what your definition is of rock solid Operating System.

I shared in the other topic how the 24h2 update screwed up the visual experience. I had to redo the visuals.

The radeon driver of my Radeon 7800XT is faulty. The previous and the current one. My windows 11pro 24h2 is only used for gaming. I assume would i work with windows 11 pro - i may find more issues on a regular basis. I paused all updates. My windows 24h2 originates from the official microsoft webpage iso image.

You may check pcgameshardware.de and other websites to see weekly articles poping up about Windows 11 screwing up functionality a or b.

Well the Explorer shell of Windows 11 does have problems, but it is largely serviceable and configurable... as for the AMD drivers... that's very much on AMD, and unless people stop buying Radeon cards, it's not gonna improve

 

[Chrispy_]

I'd say no. Security isn't the same thing as privacy, which is what you seem to be bringing into the equation.

If you want to talk about privacy/telemetry, I'd probably agree tho. Windows 11 has more more stuff snooping into what you are doing (regardless of the scope of the information that actually gets sent to Microsoft or the volume of it, or the reason for it)

Privacy and security are linked, since the telemetry that leaves your PC is now in the hands of Microsoft, who have been breached multiple times leaking hundreds of millions of account identities and data across a broad range of platforms and services. https://firewalltimes.com/microsoft-data-breach-timeline/

Once bad actors have some of the information your security has been compromised and social engineering is far more likely to be relevant to you and therefore successful.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

Software get's EOL'd. News at 11.

 

[Readlight]

No. Windows 8 is the fastest I haw used. No more updates who loads hours and installs 5 hours more, making computer non usable.

 

[loracle706]

I'm surprised that the price isn't higher. If someone asked me I would thought it would be higher.

Are you kidding me, the whole windows system iso costs 10/15 bucks for ever before that bullshit or maybe you are living in another dimension

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

Are you kidding me, the whole windows system iso costs 10/15 bucks for ever before that bullshit or maybe you are living in another dimension

So they should just cut support completely for non corporate clients next time and not offer this. I agree 100%

 

[Easo]

10 years is a long enough time in software lifecyle, though I am sure some here do think that Microsoft should keep supporting older Windows versions forever.
P.S.
Those 10 USD keys of yours... None of them are legal.

 

[Rafi2022]

Who cares about updates anyway. I just made iso with 11 ltsc stripped it to barebones, even smartscreen is not working there.
Most of AppX is also removed etc etc. Update obviously is disabled permanently who need that crap anyway.
Perfect system for my needs. 65 processes running in background and 1.2gb in memory used(with nvidia drivers etc.)