In response to widespread criticism on both sides of the Atlantic, Microsoft has finally pushed back the deadline.
For several months now, Microsoft has been conducting a sort of countdown, indicating that October 14 would mark the end of official, free support for its Windows 10 operating system. Launched on July 29, 2015, the OS is supposed to make way for its successor, Windows 11. Many voices have been raised, however, to denounce a forced switchover by Microsoft, while 1/ Windows 10 still provides many services and 2/ many machines are not Windows 11 compatible. On this second point, Microsoft has not been spared from criticism, accused of contributing to the programmed obsolescence of our PCs.
In the end, you won't need to join the ESU to enjoy Windows 10 for another year © Microsoft
Under fire from ever-increasing criticism as the famous October 14 date approached, Microsoft had agreed to a kind of first gesture last June. At the time, the Redmond-based company explained that to benefit from an extra year of updates, you would have to join the ESU or Extended Security Update program. This ESU registration gives automatic access to security updates until October 13, 2026, but there are a few conditions. To join the ESU, you must use Windows Backup, a tool that synchronizes your data in the Microsoft cloud. Of course, the Redmond firm agrees to increase Windows 10 support by one year, provided you make massive use of its cloud services. That makes sense.
That said, only a few days ago, Microsoft backtracked on this condition and, in certain regions of the world, the firm did indeed confirm its retreat: thus, Microsoft explained that " customers in the European Economic Area (EEA) will begin to see notifications on their Windows 10 PCs offering them the opportunity to sign up " in order to take advantage of an additional year of free updates. French users are therefore part of the lot, and rather than October 14, 2025, it's October 13, 2026 that should be marked on their tablets: one more year in short to adjust their machine in preparation for Windows 11, or one year to switch to Linux? It's up to you to decide...
