For Windows 10 Holdouts, an additional year of support costs $30

In a Halloween blog post, Microsoft says reminded everyone that there’s nothing scarier than not being prepared to migrate to Windows 11 before Windows 10 support ends on October 14, 2025 (we’re paraphrasing a bit). The company touted the benefits of Windows 11, described the best ways to upgrade, and also suggested buying new PC hardware for those who don’t qualify to move from Windows 10 to 11.

But in that same blog post, Microsoft also announced that it is offering a one-year term for the first time Extensive security updates option for $30 for users who don’t want to or can’t upgrade next year.

Previously there was an ESU update for commercial enterprises and for education; for commercial customersit costs $61 per year per device and doubles every year thereafter. An option for educate customers is $1 per license for the first year, $2 for the second year and $4 for the third year.

But the personal use of the ESU is new, wrote Yusuf Mehdi, head of marketing at Microsoft.

“We understand that some of you may need additional time as you move to a new Windows 11 PC or Copilot+ PC,” Medhi wrote. “Registered PCs continue to receive Critical and important security updates for Windows 10; However, new features, bug fixes, and technical support will no longer be available from Microsoft.”

Microsoft will continue to release security information updates for Microsoft Defender Antivirus until at least October 2028, the release said.

If you want to go the update route sooner, CNET has a guide to migrating to Windows 11.