On October 14, 2025, some Windows 10 versions will no longer be supported. This date is significant since it coincides with the end of life (EoL) of several other Microsoft products. These consist of Exchange 2016, Exchange 2019, Skype for Business Server 2015, Skype for Business Server 2019, Skype for Business 2016, and Skype for Business 2019. The good news is that many of these products now have Extended Security Updates (ESU) schemes announced by Microsoft.
Microsoft has released advisories for Skype for Business 2015 and 2019 as well as Exchange 2016 and 2019. Since they deal with services in the same domain, these are essentially the same. Customers have reportedly told Microsoft that they are in the process of switching to Skype for Business SE and Exchange Subscription Edition (SE), but they need a few more months of security updates once the October 14 deadline is over.
With some restrictions, the Redmond tech company has chosen to offer these extensions. First off, not everyone can take advantage of this ESU program because it is not a universal extension of the support lifetime. To obtain an extra six months of security updates (SUs), organizations are asked to get in touch with the appropriate Microsoft agent starting on August 1. A price based on the cost per server will be given by the Microsoft representative.
Additionally, according to the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC), the tech giant would only provide SUs for Critical and Important vulnerabilities. Customers that are enrolled in ESU will receive these updates in a private setting; Windows Update or other public repositories will not be used to provision them. Microsoft will check on with customers every Patch Tuesday just in case, but no SUs will be issued if no serious security issues are reported.
Microsoft has informed consumers in a fairly harsh way that this six-month ESU would not be extended past April 2026 and that no one should even get in touch to talk about this issue further. Therefore, instead of depending on the ESU extension, the company has advised clients to expedite their conversion procedures to Subscription Edition for both product lines.