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ZDNET's key takeaways
Windows 10 PCs have two free options for extended security updates.
To qualify for free personal updates, enroll with a Microsoft account.
The one-year extension for consumers ends in October 2026.
The Windows 10 end-of-support date is nearly here. Over the summer, Microsoft seems to have belatedly realized that owners of tens of millions of consumer PCs running Windows 10 aren't ready to replace their old computers, and those customers are also not about to fork over $30 for a one-year Extended Security Updates (ESU) subscription.
Also: How to upgrade your 'incompatible' Windows 10 PC to Windows 11 - for free
So, at the end of June, just days before the end of its fiscal year, the company waved the white flag and announced new "free enrollment options" for the ESU program, along with a description of the steps customers will need to follow to sign up. Anyone willing to try out Microsoft's cloud-based Windows Backup or spend a few minutes per day with the Bing search engine over the course of a week can avoid the $30 tariff and get that subscription for free using the enrollment wizard shown here.
Microsoft is offering a year's worth of free security updates to owners of Windows 10 PCs. Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET
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