In a nutshell: Microsoft officially retired mainstream support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025, but the situation is becoming more nuanced. End users can enroll in the Extended Security Updates (ESU) program to receive additional security patches, and the option is now being expanded to select enterprise customers. At this pace, Windows 10 will continue receiving updates far longer than any previous Windows release.
Did Microsoft really retire Windows 10 in October 2025? The company is now offering additional options to further extend the lifespan of an operating system first released in 2015. Redmond's updated plans include several more years of security patches for Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB 2016 through the same Extended Security Updates program already available to home users.
Microsoft defines Extended Security Updates as a way to continue using consumer and professional editions of Windows 10 securely after October 14, 2025. Users who need more time to transition to Windows 11 can receive critical security patches – essentially for free – until the consumer version of the program ends on October 13, 2026.
The ESU program is also available to enterprise organizations, although they must pay a progressively increasing fee to participate. The newly announced ESU expansion for Windows 10 LTSB 2016 includes both critical and important security updates, along with limited technical support. Consumer ESU, in contrast, does not include official support.
Microsoft's announcement states that a long-term solution for keeping Windows up to date and secure is upgrading from Windows 10 LTSB to Windows 11 LTSC. The Long-Term Servicing Branch is a retired term previously used for enterprise editions with extended support plans; these editions are now part of the Long-Term Servicing Channel, adding some complexity to Microsoft's naming conventions.
Enterprise customers interested in the ESU program must purchase updates through Volume Licensing or a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider. ESU is priced at $61 per device for the first year, doubling in cost each consecutive year. The enterprise ESU program has a maximum timeframe of three years, although it remains uncertain whether this will truly mark the end of Windows 10's use in enterprise environments.
The "older" operating system is still used on hundreds of millions of PCs, including the gaming machine used by this writer. Meanwhile, Windows 11 is undergoing an embarrassing number of "rethinking" attempts, spectacularly bad ideas like killing the Control Panel for good, and broken monthly update cycles. The Windows ecosystem is in such a sorry state, third-party companies have built a legit business out of custom patching solutions to keep ancient Windows releases safe from cyber-threats.