Windows 10 got another free year — your business computers didn't

On June 25, Microsoft quietly added a year to Windows 10's life: free security updates now run through October 12, 2027, instead of ending this October. There was no announcement — just an edited support page and a note added to an old blog post, first spotted by BleepingComputer.

If you saw one of the "Windows 10 gets another free year" headlines and mentally crossed the upgrade project off your list, here's the fine print: the extension covers personal devices only. Business computers are specifically excluded — and the paid program they're on doubles in price after this fall.

Who the free year is actually for

The extension applies to Microsoft's consumer Extended Security Updates program — the one where a home user pays $30, redeems Microsoft Rewards points, or backs up their settings to a Microsoft account, and keeps getting security fixes.

Microsoft's rules exclude any computer that is joined to a company's Microsoft Entra directory (the sign-in system behind Microsoft 365), joined to an old-style office domain, or managed remotely through device-management software. In plain terms: if your PCs sign in with company accounts and someone set them up to be managed, they don't qualify.

One narrow exception is worth knowing: a computer that is merely registered with your company's directory — say, an employee's own laptop where they added their work account, but nobody in IT manages the machine — is still eligible. If you're not sure which category your machines fall into, that's a one-line question for your IT provider.

What the business track costs

Businesses have their own version of the program, bought through volume licensing: $61 per computer for the first year, doubling every year after that, for at most three years. The first year of coverage runs out this fall, one year after Windows 10's official end of support. Year two is $122 per machine — and the program is cumulative, so if you skipped year one and enroll late, you pay for year one anyway.

For a 20-computer office, that's $1,220 for the year that's ending and $2,440 for the one starting. Against that math, the free Windows 11 upgrade — available on any machine whose hardware supports it — or replacing the few oldest PCs starts to look cheap.

What "no more updates" actually means

A Windows 10 machine that falls out of coverage doesn't stop working. It stops getting fixes. Microsoft ships security fixes for newly discovered Windows flaws every month, and attackers study each batch to work out how to break into the machines that never received it. The longer a computer runs unpatched, the longer that to-do list of known, documented ways in gets.

There's a quieter cost too: cyber-insurance questionnaires usually ask whether all your software is still supported by its vendor. Unsupported Windows machines can mean a higher premium — or an awkward conversation after a claim.

What to do before October

1. Count your Windows 10 machines — about 15 minutes. On each PC, press the Windows key, type winver, and hit Enter; it tells you the version. While you're there, Microsoft's free PC Health Check app tells you whether that machine can take the free Windows 11 upgrade.

1. Ask your IT provider one question, by name: "Are our Windows 10 machines enrolled in Extended Security Updates, and what's the plan to get off them before the year runs out?" If the answer is vague, that's your answer.

1. Make the budget call now, not in October. Upgrade the machines that can take Windows 11 for free, decide deliberately whether the rest get replaced or enrolled — and put a number next to each option before the deadline makes the decision for you.

If a few Windows 10 machines will genuinely be staying past October — sometimes one is chained to a piece of equipment or software that won't move — the next best thing is knowing the moment a new flaw affects what you run. That's what our Vulnerability Watch does: an email the day a new flaw affects the tech your business actually uses.