Still on Windows 10?
What Changed on October 13
By David Luft | CEO, LDD Consulting | MCSE, MCT, MBA | Published October 15, 2026 | 6 min read
THE SHORT ANSWER
Windows 10 support ended in October 2025. Since then, many businesses have kept their Windows 10 PCs patched through Microsoft’s paid Extended Security Updates (ESU) program. Year One of that coverage ended on October 13, 2026. Business PCs without Year Two coverage no longer receive security fixes. They still turn on and run normally, but every month without updates adds risk. You can still buy Year Two — you’ll pay for Year One too — or use this as the push to finish moving to Windows 11.
What Changed on October 13
When Windows 10 reached end of support on October 14, 2025, Microsoft stopped releasing regular security fixes for it. Businesses that weren’t ready to move to Windows 11 could buy Extended Security Updates, sold one year at a time.
That first year has now run out. As of October 13, 2026:
- Business PCs enrolled only in Year One stopped receiving security updates. Nothing visibly changed. The PC still works, but newly discovered vulnerabilities are no longer fixed.
- Business PCs with Year Two coverage continue receiving critical and important security updates through October 2027.
- Personal PCs enrolled through Microsoft’s consumer ESU program are still covered. In June 2026, Microsoft extended the consumer program through October 12, 2027. That program is meant for personal devices, though, not business fleets.
The same date also mattered for servers. Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 received their final extended security updates on October 13. And Windows Server 2016 reaches end of support in January 2027, making it the next deadline to plan for.
Pro tip: “Still works” and “still protected” aren’t the same thing. An unpatched PC looks exactly like a patched one — right up until someone exploits it.
How to Tell Whether Your PCs Are Still Protected
Many business owners honestly don’t know whether their PCs were enrolled in ESU, which year they’re covered for, or who handled it. Before deciding anything, find out where you stand.
- List every Windows 10 device. Include the front desk PC, the one running the label printer, the laptop in the conference room, and any machine tied to specialized equipment. These are the ones most often forgotten.
- Check how each one was enrolled. Business ESU is purchased through volume licensing or a Microsoft partner and activated with a key. Personal ESU is enrolled through Windows Update with a Microsoft account. If a business PC was enrolled the personal way, it may still be receiving updates, but it’s not the route Microsoft intends for business devices.
- Confirm which year you paid for. A Year One license alone no longer covers you.
- Check that updates are actually installing. Open Windows Update on a few machines and look at the date of the most recent security update. If it stopped in early October, that PC is no longer protected.
If you work with an IT support provider, they should be able to answer all four questions quickly. If no one can, that’s useful information too.
Pro tip: Ask for the answer in writing — a simple list of devices, their Windows version, and their coverage end date. That list will drive every decision that follows.
Your Options Now
Most businesses end up using a mix of these, device by device.
Upgrade eligible PCs to Windows 11
If a PC meets Windows 11’s hardware requirements, upgrading is usually the simplest long-term fix. The upgrade itself is free. The real work is testing your business software first and scheduling upgrades so they don’t interrupt your team.
Replace PCs that can’t run Windows 11
Older machines that don’t meet the requirements can’t be upgraded. If they’re also slow or out of warranty, replacing them is often cheaper over time than paying to keep them patched.
Buy Year Two ESU as a short bridge
You can still buy business ESU. If you skipped Year One, you’ll have to pay for it too, because ESU is cumulative. This makes sense for a small number of PCs that truly can’t move yet — a machine running specialized software, for example — as long as there’s a date to retire them.
Move to cloud PCs
With Windows 365, employees use a Windows 11 desktop that runs in the cloud. Microsoft also includes ESU at no extra cost for Windows 10 PCs that connect to Windows 365 Cloud PCs, for up to three years. For some businesses, cloud PCs can stretch the life of existing hardware while still moving users to Windows 11.
Pro tip: Whatever you choose, sort devices into groups — upgrade, replace, bridge, or cloud — and give each group a date. A plan without dates tends to become “next year.”
The Cost of Waiting
Business ESU starts at $61 per device and doubles every year, for a maximum of three years.
| ESU year | Coverage ends | Price per device |
|---|---|---|
| Year One | October 13, 2026 | $61 |
| Year Two | October 12, 2027 | $122 |
| Year Three | October 10, 2028 | $244 |
Because the years are cumulative, a business buying coverage for the first time today pays $183 per PC — Year One and Year Two — for one year of updates. Staying on Windows 10 through 2028 would cost $427 per PC in ESU alone, which is a meaningful share of the price of a new business laptop.
There are costs beyond the license, too. Businesses that handle regulated data, such as patient records, are expected to keep systems patched, and an unsupported operating system can become a finding in a compliance review or a question on a cyber insurance application.
If you’re planning next year’s technology spending now, this belongs on the list. Our Q4 IT budget planning guide covers what else to gather before budget season.
Pro tip: Compare the ESU cost for each older PC against the cost of replacing it. For many machines, the second year of ESU alone covers a meaningful part of a new one.
Common Mistakes Businesses Make
Mistake 1 — Assuming One ESU Purchase Covers You Indefinitely:
ESU is sold one year at a time. A Year One license doesn’t roll over, and nothing on the PC will warn you that it lapsed.
Mistake 2 — Forgetting the “Other” PCs:
The reception computer, the machine attached to an X-ray or lab instrument, the old laptop someone takes home. These are often the last to be upgraded and the first to be overlooked in an inventory.
Mistake 3 — Treating ESU as the Plan:
ESU is a bridge, not a destination. It delivers security fixes only — no new features and no general technical support — and it gets more expensive every year. Every PC on ESU should have a retirement date.
Mistake 4 — Relying on Other Security Tools to Fill the Gap:
Antivirus and firewalls are important, but they can’t fix a flaw in the operating system itself. Cybersecurity works in layers, and an unpatched operating system is a hole in the bottom layer.
Mistake 5 — Not Knowing Who Owns the Decision:
In many small businesses, it’s unclear whether the office manager, an outside vendor, or the owner is responsible for tracking deadlines like this one. With managed IT services, lifecycle tracking is part of the job, so dates like October 13 don’t sneak up on anyone.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. You can still buy business ESU, upgrade, or replace PCs. Missing October 13 just means some PCs may have gone a few weeks without updates, so start by finding out which ones.
Not overnight, but the risk grows every month. Each month, Microsoft fixes newly discovered security flaws, and attackers study those fixes to target machines that didn’t get them. An unpatched PC is an easy target, especially one connected to email and the internet all day.
Yes, for now. Microsoft has committed to security updates for Microsoft 365 Apps on Windows 10 through October 2028. That protects the apps, though — not Windows itself.
With business ESU, security updates are available until October 2028 at the latest. After that, there’s no paid option. Realistically, the cost doubling each year makes a plan to move off Windows 10 well before then the better choice.
Personal devices enrolled through Microsoft’s consumer program are covered through October 2027. If those PCs are used for business, it’s worth reviewing them with your IT provider, since the consumer program is intended for personal use.
With the device list. Once you know what’s still on Windows 10 and how it’s covered, the rest of the decisions get much easier. Contact us and we can help you build it.
Related Articles & Next Steps
→ Why Q4 Is When Your Next IT Budget Actually Gets Decided
→ Cyber Insurance Readiness: What Insurers Require
Sources
- Microsoft Learn — Extended Security Updates (ESU) program for Windows 10
- Microsoft Learn — Windows Server 2016 lifecycle
- BleepingComputer — Microsoft quietly extends free Windows 10 ESU support to October 2027
- endoflife.ai — October 13, 2026: The Day Three Windows Support Clocks Run Out
- ABT — Windows 10 ESU Year 2
David Luft
CEO, LDD Consulting
David founded LDD Consulting in 2003 with a straightforward mission: help small and mid-sized businesses in Albuquerque and across New Mexico get reliable, enterprise-quality IT support without the enterprise price tag. He holds an MBA with a concentration in Information Systems from the University of New Mexico, along with Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) and Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) credentials. He’s been solving business technology problems for more than 25 years.