Windows 7 Extended Support Update Packages Pricing
Just a few of days ago (Sep 6, 2018) Microsoft announced Windows 7 Extended Support Upgrade (ESU) where businesses can now pay to extend Windows 7 Security Updates Beyond January 14, 2020. (See summary of announcement here )
Although pricing was not revealed, the blog post announcement, authored by Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President for Office and Windows Marketing stated:
“[T]oday we are announcing that we will offer paid Windows 7 Extended Security Updates (ESU) through January 2023. The Windows 7 ESU will be sold on a per-device basis and the price will increase each year,”
Naturally, curious customers and partners were having a hard time with the lack of pricing information as, at the time of the announcement, they simply did not know how much will Microsoft will charge for this service.
To be clear, Microsoft has not changed the January 14, 2020 of Windows 7 Extended Support deadline. What it announced was a optional service to business and enterprise customers which allows them to pay to keep receiving Windows 7 security updates beyond the end of support date.
What now have official news from Microsoft on what the price for the service will be:
| Windows Version |
Year 1 |
Year 2 |
Year 3 |
| Windows 7 Pro |
$50 |
$100 |
$200 |
| Windows Enterprise (Add on) |
$25 |
$50 |
$100 |
-
-
- The Windows 7 Pro row represents the price for customers who have not purchased Windows 10 Enterprise, and have determined that Windows 10 Pro is adequate for their needs.
- The “Windows Enterprise (add on)” row represents the price for current Windows 10 Enterprise (including M365 customers) or Education customers
- Yearly price gives access to cumulative security updates over 12 months
- Purchases in years 2 and 3 require payments for prior year(s).
- Ubiquitous availability in all programs and channels (VL, CSP)
- No minimum Purchase necessary
-
This is very good news to many organizations that have not started or are having trouble with their Windows 10 migration efforts. The downside is of course the price.
So this means that a business that is not able to upgrade their Windows 7 devices to Windows 10 and have Enterprise or Education editions will need to pay support:
| Remaining Windows 7 Enterprise/ Education Devices |
1 year Cost | 2 year Cost | 3 year Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,500 | $62,500 | $125,000 | $250,000 |
| 5,000 | $125,000 | $250,000 | $500,000 |
| 10,000 | $250,000 | $500,000 | $1,000,000 |
| 20,000 | $500,000 | $1,000,000 | $2,000,000 |
On the other side, organizations with Windows 7 Pro that are not able to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro will pay for addtional support:
| Remaining Windows 7 Pro | 1 year Cost | 2 year Cost | 3 year Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,500 | $125,500 | $250,000 | $500,000 |
| 5,000 | $250,000 | $500,000 | $1,00,000 |
| 10,000 | $500,000 | $1,000,000 | $2,000,000 |
Microsoft believes that the vast majority of customers who need to purchase Windows 7 ESU will need only one year of coverage and that the annual price increases help are intended to incent customers to continue their momentum on Windows 10 deployments, while covering engineering costs of providing the support.
