Microsoft makes Windows 10's extended security updates free for an extra year for users who sync PC settings via a Microsoft Account and the Windows Backup app
but it could test your loyalty Thom Holwerda / OSnews : Microsoft grants stay of execution for Windows 10 users: use OneDrive, and get one additional free year of security updates PCWorld : Don't toss your Windows 10 PC! Try switching to KDE Plasma instead Laurent Giret / Thurrott : [Updated] Consumers and Organizations Can Now Enroll PCs in Extended Security Updates for Windows 10 Wade Tyler Millward / CRN : Microsoft Adds More Windows 10 Security Extension Options Amid PC Refresh Cycle Bluesky: Tom Warren / @tomwarren.co.uk : Microsoft was planning to charge consumers $30 for a year of extra security updates to Windows 10, but now it's making them free! ...with a catch. You'll have to enable Windows Backup 🤔. Full details on how it works 👇 www.theverge.com/news/691811/ ... Mike Toole / @miketoole.com : ah, looks like theyre starting to blink. i will keep waiting until they offer the support for free arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025... [embedded post] Nash / @radiodeadair.com : ... the hell is this nonsense? — Get a year of additional Windows 10 security updates for ... Microsoft reward points? What the entire fuck? — Either give people longer to migrate from Windows 10 or don't, but this is the kind of thing that'll definitely run afoul of the EU somehow. Forums: r/linuxmint : Wow it actually happened r/MicrosoftRewards : One additional year of Windows 10 security updates will be available for 1000 Microsoft Rewards points r/technews : Microsoft extends free Windows 10 security updates into 2026, with strings attached | End-of-support date isn't changing, but extra year will be functionally free. r/windows : Stay secure with Windows 11, Copilot+ PCs and Windows 365 before support ends for Windows 10 r/Windows10 : Microsoft makes Windows 10 security updates FREE for an extra year — but only if you sync your PC settings to the cloud via a Microsoft Account r/technology : Microsoft makes Windows 10 security updates free for an extra year — but only if you sync your PC settings to the cloud via Microsoft Account
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft had previously framed consumer Windows 10 Extended Security Updates as a single paid year; this changes the access path by making a free year available when users adopt Microsoft Account syncing and Windows Backup. It turns an end-of-support bridge into a cloud-service enrollment lever.
The move sits within a longer Windows 10 support unwind: Microsoft had already outlined annual paid security-update extensions for the operating system, while its later consumer plan specified a one-year $30 extension.
First-order effects
- Eligible Windows 10 users can keep receiving security updates for an additional year without paying cash if they sync settings through a Microsoft Account and enable Windows Backup; Microsoft Rewards redemption remains another route.
- Microsoft exchanges foregone ESU fee revenue for deeper adoption of its account, cloud-sync, and backup workflows among PCs that have not moved off Windows 10.
Second-order effects
- The policy reduces the immediate cost of retaining an older PC, potentially easing near-term pressure on users to replace hardware or change operating systems while preserving Microsoft’s relationship with them.
- Security-update access becomes differentiated by account and backup participation, giving Microsoft a practical incentive channel for cloud-service engagement rather than treating support as a standalone purchase.
Third-order effects
- If repeated, end-of-support programs may increasingly operate as service-bundling mechanisms: security maintenance becomes a way to move device users into the vendor’s identity and cloud layer.
- The trade-off may sharpen scrutiny of whether essential security support is being used to condition access to adjacent services; later coverage of free EEA updates without Windows Backup suggests that regional pressure can alter those terms.
The trend: Operating-system vendors are increasingly using support lifecycle milestones to tie legacy-device users into account-based cloud ecosystems.