Free vs paid: making sense of Microsoft's Windows 10 ESU maze
Consumer Windows 10 security updates now run to 2027 — but business terms are unchanged. What's free, what's paid, and what your business should actually do.
Microsoft has quietly given home users free Windows 10 security updates out to 2027 — but business machines are on a different, paid clock. Here's the whole maze, mapped.
Windows 10 support officially ended in October 2025, but "ended" turned out to have an asterisk. Extended Security Updates (ESU) keep patches flowing — on terms that differ wildly depending on whether a machine is personal or business. The result is genuinely confusing, and we keep meeting Melbourne businesses who think they are covered when they are not.
What does the free consumer ESU actually cover?
The free consumer ESU covers personal Windows 10 devices — and after a quiet extension by Microsoft, it now runs to October 2027. Enrolment is built into Windows Update on eligible machines. It sounds generous, and for a home laptop it is.
The catch for business is in the fine print: consumer ESU is not available for devices joined to a company domain or managed through business tooling. The machines your staff actually work on are almost certainly excluded.
What do businesses have to pay?
Businesses buy ESU per device, per year, and the price doubles each year — deliberately, to push migration. Year one (through to 13 October 2026) was roughly US$61 per device; year two roughly doubles that; year three doubles it again, with coverage ending entirely in October 2028. Ten lingering Windows 10 machines can quietly become a four-figure annual line item that buys you nothing except time.
Which option should your business take?
For most Melbourne businesses the answer is: neither, for long. ESU buys patches, not features, performance or compatibility — and the money compounds. The sensible sequence is:
Audit the fleet.
Know exactly how many Windows 10 devices remain and which ones can take Windows 11.
Upgrade what qualifies.
Machines that meet the Windows 11 hardware bar should move now — the upgrade is free.
Replace what doesn't.
Hardware too old for Windows 11 is typically 6+ years old and due anyway. Our procurement team can plan a staged replacement so it lands as a schedule, not a shock.
Use ESU only as a bridge
for the handful of machines tied to legacy software, with a dated exit plan.
Frequently asked questions
Can we just enrol our work PCs in the free consumer ESU?
No. Devices joined to a business domain or managed by business tooling are excluded from the consumer program — they need paid ESU or an upgrade.
Is running Windows 10 without ESU really that risky?
Yes. Every month, patches are published for Windows 11 that map to flaws also present in Windows 10 — attackers reverse-engineer them and aim at the unpatched. An unpatched, internet-connected Windows 10 machine gets riskier every single month.
Will our line-of-business software run on Windows 11?
Almost everything that runs on Windows 10 runs on Windows 11, but "almost" is not a plan. We test your critical applications first, then migrate — that is part of any managed IT engagement with us.
What happens after October 2028?
ESU ends entirely — there is no year four. Any Windows 10 machine still running then is permanently unpatched, which is not a place any business should be.
Where to start
Read the companion piece on the October 2026 deadline if you are already on paid ESU, or talk to us about a fleet audit — it takes days, not weeks, and turns the maze into a dated plan.
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