On 14 October 2025 Microsoft stops issuing security updates for Windows 10. The operating system will keep running — nothing switches off — but every vulnerability found after that date stays open, and criminals time their campaigns to exactly such dates. Microsoft’s advice is to move to Windows 11. For a very large number of machines that is not possible: Windows 11 requires a processor from roughly 2018 or later and a TPM 2.0 security chip, and much of the installed base in Bangladesh — office desktops bought in bulk, cybercafé PCs, the family laptop — fails one or both tests. For those, Microsoft has opened a one-year bridge called Extended Security Updates (ESU), with three ways in.
Option 1: pay $30
Consumers can buy one year of ESU for US$30 per device, covering security patches until October 2026. Businesses have a separate, pricier programme that can run for three years. Payment needs a Microsoft account and an international card, which is the usual obstacle here.
Option 2: back up to the cloud, free
Enrol in ESU at no cost by turning on Windows Backup to sync your PC settings to your Microsoft account. It is done from Settings → Accounts → Windows Backup. Microsoft gives 5 GB of OneDrive storage free; settings take almost none of that, but if you also let it back up folders you may hit the limit and be asked to buy more. You do not have to.
Option 3: 1,000 Rewards points, free
Microsoft Rewards points are earned by searching with Bing, buying from the Microsoft Store, playing Xbox games and completing daily tasks. 1,000 points redeem for a year of ESU. Starting from zero, that is several weeks of daily Bing searches; it is the option for people who refuse the cloud backup on principle.
How to enrol
- Install all pending Windows 10 updates; the ESU enrolment wizard appears under Settings → Update & Security → Windows Update on updated 22H2 machines.
- Sign in with a Microsoft account (local accounts cannot enrol).
- Choose one of the three options. Enrolment must be completed before the free-option deadline in October to be covered from day one.
If you do nothing
The PC keeps working and the browser keeps updating — Chrome and Firefox will support Windows 10 for a while — but the operating system itself becomes a growing liability, and any machine handling bKash, banking or office email should not be on it unpatched. The honest long-term answer for an ineligible PC is a lightweight Linux, or a new machine; ESU buys a year to decide.
Source: News18, via Prothom Alo.
