‘2025 continues to emerge as the year of the Windows 11 PC refresh,’ said Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft executive vice president and consumer chief marketing officer.
Microsoft is adding more free Windows 10 Extended Security Updates enrollment options for users that aren’t ready to migrate to Windows 11—and potentially to artificial intelligence-powered Copilot+ PCs—when the tech giant stops supporting the older operating system Oct. 14.
One of those options is a $61-per-device ESU subscription that will become available for Cloud Service Provider partners Sept. 1. Microsoft, the Redmond, Wash.-based artificial intelligence, cloud, PCs and other technologies vendor, said the $61 CSP option will provide users with monthly critical and important security updates for a year. Users can renew the subscription annually for up to three years with the cost increasing each year.
“With AI becoming a more natural and helpful part of everyday life, 2025 continues to emerge as the year of the Windows 11 PC refresh,” Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft executive vice president and consumer chief marketing officer, said in a statement Tuesday.
“We also recognize that transitions to new PCs take careful planning,” he added. “With Windows 10 support coming to an end in October, we’re here to provide information and resources to help you choose the path that works best for you—whether that’s exploring the next generation of Windows, staying on your current PC with the Extended Security Program [ESU], or moving to a cloud-based solution.”
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Microsoft ESU Enrollment
CRN has reached out to Microsoft for additional comment. The vendor has more than 500,000 partners worldwide.
Jason Dugger, chief technology officer of DGR Systems, told CRN in a recent interview that the Tampa, Fla.-based Microsoft solution provider has been helping customers move to Windows 11. The company has even leveraged an improved endpoint management method to help stand out from other Microsoft partners.
“I don’t have to send it [the PC] to one of these big warehouses and apply an image and ship it out, which is immediately out of date,” Dugger said. “Instead we receive, we ship, we get there. The device opens up. You log in. Now we start layering up the OS from a different build standpoint. The modernization of the endpoint management function has been great business for us.”
ESU enrollment methods newly available to users include an enrollment wizard for individual Windows 10 users in the Windows Insider Program and the $61-per-device ESU subscription for organizations in the Microsoft Volume Licensing Program, according to Microsoft.
Users accessing Windows 11 Cloud PCs on Windows 10 devices through Windows 365 and virtual machines (VMs) can receive ESUs for no additional charge. They will also automatically receive security updates. Microsoft is offering 20 percent off W365 plans for the first 12 months for new customers as an additional incentive to adopt the service.
ESU enrollment methods coming later this year are the enrollment wizard rollout to other Windows 10 users starting in July, with broad availability expected by mid-August, plus the CSP availability of the $61 ESU subscription in September.
Users can access the wizard through “notifications” and in “settings,” according to Microsoft. Users will have the option to sync settings to the cloud through Windows Backup, redeem 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points or pay $30. Personal device ESU coverage runs from Oct. 15 through Oct. 13, 2026.
Microsoft is also directing users to purchase, trade-in and recycling programs from computer makers such as Acer, Dell Technologies and HP Inc., and resellers including CRN 2025 Solution Provider 500 members CDW, Computacenter, Connection and SHI.
10 Years Of Windows 10
Microsoft released Windows 10 in July 2015. Today, Windows powers more than 1 billion monthly active devices, according to the vendor.
Even after Microsoft ends support for Windows 10, Microsoft 365 Apps running on personal and commercial Windows 10 PCs will receive security updates until Oct. 10, 2028, according to Microsoft.
Those will receive feature updates through August 2026. Microsoft will also keep providing Security Intelligence Updates for Microsoft Defender Antivirus on Windows 10 through October 2028.
Once Microsoft stops supporting Windows 10, devices running the OS will no longer receive security and feature updates, technical support and application support, and could fall short of regulatory compliance, according to the vendor.
