Can't quit Windows 10? Microsoft will charge for updates next year. Here's how much

Business customers

Business customers will need to pay dearly to stick with Windows 10. A license for the Extended Security Updates (ESU) program is sold as a subscription. For the first year, the cost is $61. For year two, the price doubles, and it doubles again for year three. That Microsoft blog post doesn't do the math on those, probably because the total is uncomfortably high. A three-year ESU subscription will cost $61 + $122 + $244, for a total of $427 per PC.

Also: Have a Windows 10 PC that can't be upgraded? You have 5 options

The program closely resembles what Microsoft offered for Windows 7's end-of-support date in 2020, although the Windows 10 price is 22% higher than the $350 total cost of that program, which started at $50 for year one.

Don't think you can game the system by jumping into the program after sitting out for a year or two. "ESUs are cumulative," Microsoft said, and you can't buy year two unless you've already paid for year one.

Education customers

Education customers are getting off much easier. The rules are the same, but the price for the first year is $1. It doubles to $2 in the second year and doubles again to $4 in the third and final year, for a grand total of ... $7 per PC.

Also: You can still upgrade old PCs to Windows 11, even if Microsoft says no: Readers prove it

Administrators who want to get a head start can sign up for the first year of an ESU license as early as October 2024, one year before the actual end-of-support date.

As was the case with Windows 7, Redmond really wants business customers to upgrade to Windows 11, which explains the high price tag. Microsoft's April announcements talk just as much about what you don't get with an ESU license as they do about the updates themselves.