Windows 10 got another year. Use it to move
Reports say Microsoft quietly extended free consumer security updates for Windows 10 to October 2027. Don’t treat it as a reason to wait.
Windows 10 support officially ended last October, and home users could enrol in Extended Security Updates until October 2026. Last week Help Net Security reported that Microsoft has quietly updated its documentation to extend the consumer ESU programme to 12 October 2027, with existing enrolments continuing automatically.
Check Microsoft’s ESU page for your own case, and the business ESU terms if you’re a company, because they’re different.
Either way, the extra year is a gift for planning, not for waiting:
- List the Windows 10 machines you still have, and why each one hasn’t moved.
- Upgrade the ones that can run Windows 11. Most from the last six years can.
- Budget for replacing the rest across the next twelve months, not in a rush next September.
- Keep any machine that stays on Windows 10 off email and general browsing.