Microsoft Offers Extended Security Update (ESU) Program for Windows 10

[Best_man23]

Microsoft just rolled out an Extended Security Update program for Windows 10. The plan appears to have one of two options for sign up. The first one is pay a one-time $30 fee for a ESU license for up to 10 computers. The other allows you to get ESU for free, BUT to get this, you have to sync your PC settings, which means backing up personal data to OneDrive, using Microsoft Bing for web searches, and using Microsoft Edge.

I'm thinking of paying the $30 fee for the ESU license, as I don't want to back up data to MSFT's OneDrive and be compelled to use Edge/Bing. I was planning to migrate most of my home systems to Windows 11 over the next couple of months until I heard about this ESU program. Mrs Best has a employer-supplied computer running Windows 11 Pro and to be frank, I do not have any love for the Windows 11 OS.

I'd love to ditch Windows entirely and go 100% Linux (currently have one system that is dual boot Win 10/Ubuntu). But we both have applications we use for work and business that I don't think would function well in the Linux WINE emulator tool.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-consumer-extended-security-updates-esu-program-33e17de9-36b3-43bb-874d-6c53d2e4bf42

[ret5hd]

1. they really really really want to taste your...

sweet sweet data!

[hlthe2b]

2. "Guess Iwill have to bite th bullet. Ihave a newer Win 11 laptop that I am trying to move to, but..

it is a slow process. I may still need my old laptop to have some online access for a little while--and for that I have to maintain both an internet security package and Windows security updates...

I am surprised not to have received this offer via email from MS, though... I do get them frequently because I have MS360, but nothing about the WIN 10 offers. October 2025, for those who are procrastinating on a decision...

[Best_man23]

3. I think they (Microsoft) want the public to move to Windows 11

I was fully planning to migrate my home systems to Windows 11. A video about this came up in my YT feed; otherwise, I would still be in the dark about this extended support program.

[hunter]

4. I'm always surprised that people use their personal computers for business.

Guess I've never been in a position where that would make sense. To me it seems really messy and potentially dangerous.

My wife is expressly forbidden from using her personal computer or phone for work. She's not allowed to use her work computer for any personal use either, but why would she want to? It's locked down pretty tight.

I always tell people I won't use Microsoft or Apple products unless someone is paying me to. Until recently I had a Windows 10 machine just for that purpose but I didn't use it much during the COVID-19 pandemic so I've converted it to Linux, deleting Windows entirely. These days Windows seems about as useful to me as the 8 inch floppy drives in my garage. I haven't spun those up for many years.

It's possible that if I was still using Windows I'd pay the $30 and consider it a business expense.

The last version of Windows I used on my personal machines was 98SE and that was only so I could run the Opera Web browser. When Opera released a version that ran on Linux I switched.

Computers are just not that expensive these days. You can buy a refurbished lenovo mini or a brand new raspberry pi 500 for about a $100 and it will run Linux just fine for most purposes.

Once you are familiar with Linux you are freed from all these expensive forced upgrade cycles.

I don't play the latest computer games, use Photoshop or other Adobe products, or edit HD video, which may color my view.

[Best_man23]

5. We have a small LLC side business that we use our personal computers at times to support

We have employer supplied computers for our weekday jobs. We keep each of them separate, even down to the LANs and WiFI they run on.