March 2021 - Page 56 of 69

Windows 10 stopped receiving free security updates on 14 October 2025, and roughly three in ten Windows desktops are still running it. This guide sets out the five endpoint positions available after end of support — paid Extended Security Updates, a standard Windows 11 refresh, a Surface 5G refresh, a Windows 365 Cloud PC, and doing nothing — and the single number that settles each one. It covers what ESU really costs at 61, 122 and 244 US dollars per device across three cumulative years, which Windows 11 protections depend on hardware and cannot be retrofitted at any price, what Surface 5G devices actually exist today and which SKUs carry the cellular option, why a provisioned cellular connection removes an entire attack class rather than detecting it, and how to sequence migration waves so the saving is realised at decommissioning rather than promised at go-live.