As we have highlighted before, and will no doubt highlight again, support for Microsoft's aging Windows 10 operating system ends in October. In preparation for this, Microsoft have now outlined pricing for optional "extended" support beyond this date.
Windows 10 was released about 10 years ago (doesn't time fly!). Windows 11 was released about 4 years ago, and since then, Microsoft have been nudging anyone still using Windows 10 with increasing urgency to upgrade to Windows 11. People have been sluggish to comply, but usage stats suggest the message is now getting through as the end of support approaches, just as it did with Windows 7 and XP before it (we don't talk about Windows 8).
As we have covered before, if you're able to upgrade, you absolutely should at this point while it's still possible to roll back in the very unlikely case of emergency. Windows 10 is now only receiving infrequent security updates, and once the support deadline passes in October, these will end too, leaving your PC (and your wider network) at increasing risk of attack.
For consumers that really need to stick with Windows 10 for some reason, Microsoft have announced that the "Extended Security Updates" scheme will be made available to all users for a price - $30 to be exact. This will provide one extra year of security updates from October. It should be noted this is a one-time extension - there will be no option to extend again the following year. Business users also have the option of extension, and that extension can be up to three years, but the costs are higher in year one and increase each additional year.
Microsoft have described the extended support option as "a last resort option for customers who need to run certain legacy Microsoft products past the end of support. Extended Security Updates are not intended to be a long-term solution but rather a temporary bridge."