[German]Microsoft is planning to end support for Windows 10 in October 2025. After that, there will only be updates for paying customers of the ESU program. However, ACROS Security will use its 0patch agent to ensure that vulnerabilities in Windows 10 are patched for a further five years after its end of life in order to close security gaps. This is what Mitja Kolsek from ACROS Security told me this week – and I'm posting the information on the blog.
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Windows 10 EOL in October 2025
Windows 10 will officially reach the End of Life (EOL) on October 14, 2025. This operating system version will then be available for 10 years and security updates will be available for the last time on this date. Below is a screenshot of the EOL page for Windows 10 Home and Pro.
The end of support for Windows 10 Enterprise and Education is also stated on this website as October 14, 2025. After this date, there will be neither support nor updates – Microsoft wants users to switch to Windows 11.
Exceptions: LTSC and ESU
However, there are exceptions to the end of Windows 10 support. Users of Windows 10 2019 Enterprise LTSC and Windows 10 21H2 Enterprise LTSC will continue to receive updates and support until the 10 years after release have expired. The dates for the end of support can be found on this Microsoft page.
However, users of other Windows 10 versions have the option of booking a fee-based Extended Security Update Program (ESU). I mentioned this in the blog post Windows 10: Surprise, there is an ESU support extension; also for private users. However, this is not quite cheap, according to my article Windows 10: Prices for Extended Security Updates announced, the ESU license starts at 61 US dollars in the first year. The ESU license can be purchased for three years, i.e. until October 2028. The price for the ESU license for subsequent years doubles every year thereafter.
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However, users of other Windows 10 versions have the option of booking an Extended Security Update Program (ESU) for a fee. I mentioned this in my blog post. However, this is not quite cheap, according to my article Windows 10: Prices for Extended Security Updates announced, the ESU license starts at 61 US dollars in the first year. The ESU license can be purchased for three years, i.e. until October 2028. The price for the ESU license for subsequent years doubles each additional year.
0patch offers 5 years of additional support
Mitja Kolsek, founder of ACROS Security, had already informed me some time ago that he was planning to support Windows 10 via his 0patch agent, but did not yet have any details. On June 27, 2024, Mitja Kolsek sent me a personal message with the following tweet and a link to the article Long Live Windows 10… With 0patch.
ACROS Security will secure Windows 10 22H2 for at least another five years from October 2025. Kolsek analyzes the security updates available for Windows 10 22H2 Enterprise LTSC for closed vulnerabilities. He then develops a so-called micropatch, which he loads into the working memory via the 0patch agents. This closes security gaps in Windows 10.
With 0patch, users receive security "micropatches" for critical vulnerabilities that are likely to be exploited and are discovered after October 14, 2025. These patches are very small, usually just a few CPU instructions (hence the name), and are applied to running processes in memory without changing a single byte of Microsoft's original binaries (See How 0patch works, or in my blog post here).
The prices for this protection, which is also available for home users, are very moderate. The current annual price for 0patch PRO is 24.95 EUR + VAT per computer, and for 0patch Enterprise 34.95 EUR + VAT per computer. Active subscriptions will keep these prices for two more years in case of price changes. Further details can be found in Mitja Kolsek's blog post.
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