Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
As I write the final part in this series of articles in early August, 2025, not a great deal has changed with regards to the projected end-of-life (EOL) for Windows 10 being October 14th. Microsoft stubbornly holds onto the stringent specifications for the range of CPU chips that are supported by Windows 11, and the requirement that a Trusted Platform Module (TPM 2.0) be available and enabled in order to upgrade to the latest version of the operating system.
The ironic nature of the October 14th date for Microsoft ending support for Windows 10, and possibly condemning millions of PCs to the electronic scrapheap, was pointed out by Chris Taylor, OPCUG’s President, at a recent Q&A session. EOL for Windows corresponds precisely with International E-Waste Day, an annual event organized by the WEEE Forum (https://weee-forum.org)!
However, one glimmer of optimism in this entire sad process is a move by Microsoft to enable users of Windows 10 to obtain one year of extended support at no cost. The original announcement of the Extended Security Updates (ESU) programme for Windows 10 offered only a single option, namely the purchase of one year of additional support for US $30. Recently, another announcement (Windows 10 Consumer Extended Security Updates (ESU) program [https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-consumer-extended-security-updates-esu-program-33e17de9-36b3-43bb-874d-6c53d2e4bf42]) indicated that two further options will be made available, neither of which will have any monetary costs. One of the options is for users to synchronize their PC’s settings on Microsoft’s cloud storage. The second such option is to redeem 1000 Microsoft Reward points.
Note that the ESU programme is both specific and limited. There are several requirements that must be met in order to enroll in the programme when it becomes available in mid-August. Firstly, PCs must be running Windows 10 Version 22H2, i.e. the most recent feature release of the operating system, and the latest updates must be installed. Secondly, the enrollment process must be carried out using a Microsoft administration account. [Note that if only one Microsoft account is available then this will necessarily be an administrator account.]
The option to synchronize the PC’s settings involves using Windows Backup (Settings > Accounts > Windows Backup) to store the settings on Microsoft’s cloud server. However, the simplest way to achieve this will be by using the ESU enrollment wizard when this becomes available. The process has been described in detail by Christopher Barnatt in the video “Setting Up Windows 10 ESUs - For Free!” [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERDjeKN1_Es&t=510s] on his ‘Explaining Computers’ YouTube Channel. Specifically, he shows how to enrol in the ESU programme while sharing the minimum amount of information with Microsoft, and notes that the enrollment is maintained when switching back to the use of a local account to run Windows.
Many users will not realize that they have accumulated Microsoft Reward points. I checked the status of my reward points by logging in to https://rewards.bing.com using my Microsoft account and discovered that I already had 804 reward points, presumably from previously using Microsoft’s Bing search engine. The website lists multiple ways of accumulating points such as conducting searches using Bing, looking up recipes, finding local restaurants, and undertaking various puzzles. There are, therefore, several ways to accumulate the 1000 points required to enrol in the ESU programme prior to the EOL date. At the time I was researching this method, a special offer provided 500 reward points for downloading the Bing app to my smartphone and conducting searches using the app on two separate days. In consequence, I now have over 1300 reward points and can use these to enrol in the ESU programme when it becomes available.
While the ESU programme provides extended support for Windows 10, it should be noted that this is only for twelve months following EOL. Should nothing change in the meantime, users in the ESU programme will once again be subject to loss of support for Windows 10 in October, 2026. In addition, the ESU programme will provide only security patches for the operating system. There will not be any feature updates, bug fixes, and no technical support will be provided by Microsoft.
For individuals whose computers are not capable of having Windows 11 installed, all of the options outlined in Part 1 of this series remain available. This includes my preference of Trading Up To Linux! Indeed, the entire point of this series of articles has been to provide the information necessary for Windows users to try Linux ahead of the EOL deadline.
Notably, we have seen how to obtain a Linux distro, create a live-USB, and use this bootable drive to ensure that Linux will run without any issues on a specific computer. Subsequently, we reviewed how to install Linux on a computer’s hard drive in dual-boot mode so as to have the capability to select either Windows or Linux at boot time. We also looked at how to update Linux, customize the system, install software that was not bundled with the original distro, and how to potentially run many Windows programs inside the Linux operating system.
When you read this, the EOL on October 14, 2025 may have passed by, so I hope that you have taken advantage of this series of articles to investigate the use of Linux. However, the option to enroll in the ESU programme will provide an additional year for such activities for anyone who has yet to explore the capabilities of Linux. I sincerely hope that the suite of articles in this series are sufficient to get you started on the journey!
[PS/Ed: Since the above paper was written, there have been reports that an additional free, 12-month, ESU option is available from Microsoft for users in the European area].