As the traditional end of support for Microsoft's aging Windows 10 operating system looms ever closer, they have now announced the pricing to keep it secure from online threats for those determined not to upgrade to Windows 11.
The cost for ongoing security updates after October 2025 will be $61 per device in year one, $122 for year two and $244 for year three. Given the prevalance of security threats these days, and the fact your network is only as secure as its most insecure device, these charges will be pretty much non-optional for anyone that needs to continue using Windows 10 for some reason. It's worth noting that you won't save any money by risking a while without updates and signing up later. You will be expected to pay everything you would have paid had you signed up on day one.
It's worth also noting that this extended support is largely targeted at business users. Microsoft don't tend to publicise this for home users, and don't make it easy to sign up even if you wanted to. It is expected that all home users should have made the shift to Windows 11 within the next year and a bit before the end of mainstream support.
If that seems expensive, that's because it is. Microsoft don't really want anyone to do this - the price is supposed to act as a deterrent. Microsoft would much rather everyone switches to Windows 11 before this cutoff. This "new" operating system is already well over two years old now, and will have been out for 4 years at the point Windows 10 support ends.
Stats suggest there's many people still to make the switch. Of those using Windows as their desktop operating system, Only 26% are using Windows 11 as of March 2024. 69% are still on Windows 10. There is speculation that Microsoft will "have" to continue free updates after the current deadline given the huge number of users still on Windows 10. However, those with long memories will remember that there was similar suggestions for both Windows 7 and and Windows XP as well, and neither of those proved to be correct!
All that is to say if you're still using Windows 10 and have no good technical reason for not making the shift to Windows 11, get upgrading or replacing aging machines in the next few months to avoid costly extended support fees in the future.