Although Microsoft is planning to stop supporting Windows 7 on January 14, 2020, it doesn’t mean that the company will stop offering updates. After the end of life for the operating system, the software giant will continue to offer patches, but only to businesses willing to pay for the Extended Security Updates (ESUs) with a commitment to upgrade to Windows 10 within three years.
This information isn’t new, as Microsoft made this announcement back in 2018. However, the pricing for the Extended Security Updates service was unknown, but now, a new report from ZDNet (via Neowin) unveils how much businesses will be asked to pay to keep Windows 7 running.
According to the report, if your organization is using Windows 7 Pro, then it’ll cost $50 per device during the first year, $100 for the second year, and $200 for the third year. If your organization is using Windows 7 Enterprise, then the price will be half per device per year.
While Windows 10 is already the most popular than Windows 7, a lot of companies still neglecting to upgrade, and Microsoft planning to charge them more money seems one way to push organizations to leave behind the less secure operating system.
Of course, this is only for businesses, after Windows 7 reaches its end of life cycle, regular users will stop seeing updates on their machines, and the only way to continue to get updates would be upgrading to Windows 10. Period.
Mauro Huculak is a Windows expert and the Editor-in-Chief who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He is also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 12 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows, software, and related technologies, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me.