Microsoft reveals subscription pricing for using Windows 10 beyond 2025, and it's not cheap

[Windows Central]

Last year, Microsoft announced an extended support program for Windows 10 that would allow users to pay for continued security updates beyond the October 2025 end of support date. Today, the company has unveiled the pricing structure for that program.

Microsoft reveals subscription pricing for using Windows 10 beyond 2025, and it's not cheap : Read more

 

[bradavon]

$5 a month, rising to $10 a month to keep a decade old operating system going seems reasonable.

That's less than any subscription service.

 

[AirOp]

Last year, Microsoft announced an extended support program for Windows 10 that would allow users to pay for continued security updates beyond the October 2025 end of support date. Today, the company has unveiled the pricing structure for that program.

Microsoft reveals subscription pricing for using Windows 10 beyond 2025, and it's not cheap : Read more

I guess they have just incentivised themselves to make windows 11 crappy...

I would pay $5 a year for a good windows box.
I would probably pay $10 a year for a good kde plasma linux box that actually ran the windows software that I have to run. I would probably actually pay $50 a year for the linux.

Windows 11 is a turd sandwich. they could fix it by bringing back the classic shell. they just borked the hell out of it.

I don't want their AI assistant crap.
... I want a good OS and a good app store is great too.
If they keep it secure and add optional features that is great.

They should just fix windows 11, and I would pay for that.

 

[Tony n]

No not paying. My antivirus is sufficient. I also have a few Windows 7 PCs with no problems.

 

[Ron-F]

The IT team at work will love it. They will call it the moment of Linux at desktop and will install it on all older computers — which are quite a few.

 

[Rtg593]

Lol, that's cute.

Also, your headline is highly inaccurate. You don't have to pay a subscription to use it past 2025, you have to pay a subscription if you want continued updates. Most consumers won't care and will probably look up ways to block the annoying pop-up Microsoft is likely to add.

 

[savojo4219]

I'm pretty sure there is a free Ukrainian or russian version of windows 10 and you don't have to deal with this crap

 

[Rumpystiltskin]

I am confused about the pricing. $61, $122, $244 each for year 1, year 2, and year 3, but you cannot buy in year 3 for the first time (making it your year 1) without buying years 1 and 2? So if in June of 2029 there is a HUGE hole discovered that makes it so hackers can walk right in and I want that patched and I have not paid anything, I have to pay $427 at that moment? Do I have this correct?

 

[wojtek]

2025 Year Of Linux on desktop finally? xD

Lol, that's cute.

Also, your headline is highly inaccurate. You don't have to pay a subscription to use it past 2025, you have to pay a subscription if you want continued updates. Most consumers won't care and will probably look up ways to block the annoying pop-up Microsoft is likely to add.

Yeah... MS is annoying more and more people and causing even more security problems - Windows11 is "annoying" (to put it mildly) so users stick with W10, but now they will run obsolete, unsecure windows and probably create huge botnets... way to go MS!

 

[AirOp]

No not paying. My antivirus is sufficient. I also have a few Windows 7 PCs with no problems.

Maybe with a deep packet inspection firewall ..
I would consider running it in a virtual machine with latest bios and drivers.

The scary thing is when visiting a web page compromises the computer.

Turn off lots of networking features ...


Your antivirus can actually be used against you sometimes. there can be security problems in that itself.

It would be cool if they borrowed from rust and D and put more protections in.

I would hope that microsoft would already have a special compiler and analyst tools to look for problems, but there are device drivers that can be exploited too... and then probably hardware that has difficult to protect from conditions. like a hardware video decoder could be given a packet that borks it. Inspecting everything can be computationally intense.

I expect you to be ok if you don't go to pirate video and pr0n sites.... but one missclick and you can be exploited.
So maybe an on machine firewall can block some sites. Theoretically major sites will stop malicious videos from getting to you, but they post harmful brain rotting content, so can we actually trust them?

 

[bradavon]

I guess they have just incentivised themselves to make windows 11 crappy...

I would pay $5 a year for a good windows box.
I would probably pay $10 a year for a good kde plasma linux box that actually ran the windows software that I have to run. I would probably actually pay $50 a year for the linux.

Windows 11 is a turd sandwich. they could fix it by bringing back the classic shell. they just borked the hell out of it.

I don't want their AI assistant crap.
... I want a good OS and a good app store is great too.
If they keep it secure and add optional features that is great.

They should just fix windows 11, and I would pay for that.

Everyone hated Windows Vista and Windows 8.

Only a vocal minority of Techie users hate Windows 11. Windows 11 isn't going the way of Vista or 8 and a replacement isn't being rushed out because in truth Windows 11 may have UI elements people dislike but that doesn't mean "it needs fixing".

Or The TLDR:

I see no sign of Windows 11 going anywhere.

Which is good it's great.

Sure why not the Start Menu has removed fiunctionality, it also has added functionality. The Windows 10 Start Menu is a mess, always was.

This is all moot anyway, by 2025 you'll be using Windows 11 too.

 

[bradavon]

Yeah... MS is annoying more and more people and causing even more security problems - Windows11 is "annoying" (to put it mildly) so users stick with W10, but now they will run obsolete, unsecure windows and probably create huge botnets... way to go MS!

People's memory is so bad these days.

The same literally happened with Windows 95 when Windows XP came out, people didn't want to move. The same with Windows XP when Windows 7 came out, people loved Windows XP and eventually when people moved to the new platform.

Users are only sticking with Windows 10 because it's stil in support. Come 2025 things will change because this is how every Windows release has rolled out.

People act like they know more about operating systems than the company who has made the most popular one since the 1990s. Microsoft play the long game, maybe people should too.

 

[wojtek]

People act like they know more about operating systems than the company who has made the most popular one since the 1990s. Microsoft play the long game, maybe people should too.

Windows is the most popular OS becase of shady practices of the MS (same with Google and Android) and not because it's the most amazing thing ever.

Besides, Linux in the past was so-so, but it got really great. Hence, more and more people could be tempted to switch instead of having to deal with dumb ads and co-pilot nonsense...

 

[Laura Knotek]

Windows is the most popular OS becase of shady practices of the MS (same with Google and Android) and not because it's the most amazing thing ever.

Besides, Linux in the past was so-so, but it got really great. Hence, more and more people could be tempted to switch instead of having to deal with dumb ads and co-pilot nonsense...

The only consumers who require Windows are PC gamers. Linux isn't an option for them. Businesses will either switch to Windows 11 or pay for long term support for Windows 10. PC gamers will probably keep using Windows 10 without upgrading as long as they are able to play the games they have.

 

[wojtek]

The only consumers who require Windows are PC gamers. Linux isn't an option for them.

Well... I would say that after proton/steam-deck is not true. Granted, if someone wants to play a MP gay with anticheat then some of them don't work but a lot of lot of games work just fine (if not amazing) under linux...

And that group is not all that huge all things considered.

I've been using windows exclusively for 15y, then switched to mac for 10y (and managed household windows machines still so had contact with it) and have steam deck since about 2y now and OMG - it's so good! Virtually all games that I have on steam and want to play I can (I don't play any multiplayer so there's that). It's just mindblowing! I'm also pondering switching to KDE once current MBP M1 gets older (was on the brink 2y ago but they presented silicon and having a cool, silent device is just too good ).

Businesses will either switch to Windows 11 or pay for long term support for Windows 10. PC gamers will probably keep using Windows 10 without upgrading as long as they are able to play the games they have.

Business - yes. And I think MS is banking on it. Though there are tiny movements here and there, eg. https://arstechnica.com/information...hing-windows-for-linux-30k-workers-migrating/ (Munich tried that a decade ago and then got bribed by MS so they migrated back ). In general all public agencies should switch to linux/FOSS software and use open formats but yay, thanks to microsoft-from-the-nineties we ended up with enshrined walled garden...

 

[bradavon]

Windows is the most popular OS becase of shady practices of the MS (same with Google and Android) and not because it's the most amazing thing ever.

Yes and No. Yes there are shady practises but No Windows is also as big as it is because it mostly works and works well.

Apple and Google don't even bother to compete in the server space Windows Server is so big.

I don't think I've ever seen an Ad in Windows. Android Central writes how annoying ads are on Samsung phones. I've never seen one. Maybe its a US centric issue.

Besides IT departments are well used to controlling Windows through Group Policy and similar. The consumer space you're speaking of isn't even Microsoft's major income stream.

 

[wojtek]

No Windows is also as big as it is because it mostly works and works well.

Well.. it definitelly can server BSODs well ;-)

True though, that Win32 is the most stable API, so stable that current gaming on linux is based on it

Apple and Google don't even bother to compete in the server space Windows Server is so big.

sweet summer child... or a manipulator?

For example https://www.zdnet.com/article/linux-has-over-3-of-the-desktop-market-its-more-complicated-than-that/:

> First, 96.3% of the top million web servers run Linux.You name it -- Google, Facebook, Wikipedia, etc.-- it's running Linux. It's the same story with the cloud, where Linux runs 90% of the cloud. Even Microsoft Azure users run Linux more than they do Windows Server. In other words, if you spend your day using web applications and services, congratulations, you, like most people, are a Linux user.

Or maybe you were referring to Windows Server bloat? In that case I agree - it's utterly awful overbloated

And yet no one uses it, in any great numbers.

OMFG... Have you heard about how difficult is change habbits? And how vendor-lock-in works? And overcoming it is utterly difficult? Those are awful patterns still employed by MS or fruits of the past...
It's like everyone knows that FB is shaite but guess what, "everyone is there" due to snowball effect so it's still the most popular place on earth (sadly) :|

Besides IT departments are well used to controlling Windows through Group Policy and similar. The consumer space you're speaking of isn't even Microsoft's major income stream.

Yes, Nadella knowing that OS is waning pivoted to cloud and it was awesome... MS even made their own linux distribution to run their tech stack more efficiently.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Yes and No. Yes there are shady practises but No Windows is also as big as it is because it mostly works and works well.

Apple and Google don't even bother to compete in the server space Windows Server is so big.


And yet no one uses it, in any great numbers.

I don't think I've ever seen an Ad in Windows. Android Central writes how annoying ads are on Samsung phones. I've never seen one. Maybe its a US centric issue.

Besides IT departments are well used to controlling Windows through Group Policy and similar. The consumer space you're speaking of isn't even Microsoft's major income stream.

Many businesses run Linux servers, rather than Windows servers.

 

[mow]

The same literally happened with Windows 95 when Windows XP came out, people didn't want to move. The same with Windows XP when Windows 7 came out, people loved Windows XP and eventually when people moved to the new platform.

Users are only sticking with Windows 10 because it's stil in support. Come 2025 things will change because this is how every Windows release has rolled out.

Well, I guess most users would upgrade by Oct 2025 if Microsoft would let them. In all those mentioned earlier upgrades, the CPUs dropping out of support really weren't fun to work on anyway by that time. But now they're excluding a *huge* part of the user base for dubious reasons. (I know there are ways around the TPM requirements, but those could be blocked anytime.)

 

[bradavon]

> First, 96.3% of the top million web servers run Linux.You name it -- Google, Facebook, Wikipedia, etc.-- it's running Linux. It's the same story with the cloud, where Linux runs 90% of the cloud. Even Microsoft Azure users run Linux more than they do Windows Server. In other words, if you spend your day using web applications and services, congratulations, you, like most people, are a Linux user.

I wasn't thinking of websites/cloud services but here you're obviously right.