Microsoft Reveals Windows 7 Paid Support Prices

We’ve known for months that Microsoft’s largest business customers will be able to pay for additional Windows 7 support past that system’s support life cycle retirement. Now we know how much.

No, not because Microsoft has announced its pricing plans for additional Windows 7 support. Instead, the software giant has reached out to its largest customers to inform them of the pricing privately. And some of those companies have leaked those prices. Which work out like so:

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Windows 7 Extended Security Updates

Year 1 (January 2020 through January 2021): Windows 7 Pro is $50 per device, Windows Enterprise (add-on) is $25 per device.

Year 2 (January 2021 through January 2022): Windows 7 Pro is $100 per device, Windows Enterprise (add-on) is $50 per device.

Year 3 (January 2022 through January 2023): Windows 7 Pro is $200 per device, Windows Enterprise (add-on) is $100 per device.

As you can see, the price doubles each year. This isn’t that surprising, I guess, but Microsoft only said that “the price will increase each year” when it made its original announcement. If your company is in a position to take advantage of this offer, you’ll need to contact your Microsoft account team or the partner through which you license Windows to learn more.

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Conversation 13 comments

  • bart

    Premium Member
    06 February, 2019 - 8:59 am

    <p>So, being completely unknown to pricing when it comes to support; how are these prices viewed? Cheap / average / expensive?</p>

    • christian.hvid

      06 February, 2019 - 12:36 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#402972">In reply to Bart:</a></em></blockquote><p>By the year 2030 we'll be looking at $25,600 per device… I'd say that's a fair price. :)</p>

    • wright_is

      Premium Member
      07 February, 2019 - 3:26 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#402972">In reply to Bart:</a></em></blockquote><p>It is never going to be cheap. You will probably be looking at a minimum spend of at least $500,000 for the first year to qualify for the programme. Whether that is more cost effective than upgrading to Windows 10 is another matter. I will be isolating industrial controllers that can't be uprgaded and moving the rest to Windows 10.</p>

  • Ben Samuels

    06 February, 2019 - 9:01 am

    <p>When it says the Enterprise version is an Add On, does that mean that it is $75 in year one? Or does it mean that it's $25 in addition to the Enterprise support fee already being paid?</p>

    • waethorn

      06 February, 2019 - 10:59 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#402973">In reply to madhava:</a></em></blockquote><p>It means you need an agreement that includes Windows Enterprise licensing already, whether it be a Software Assurance contract for Open Licensing (or as an add-on for OEM licenses), or a large corporate Enterprise Agreement. Regular Windows Enterprise agreements only include licensing for in-support versions of Windows (i.e. Windows 10)….UNLESS you pay this extra fee.</p>

  • wright_is

    Premium Member
    06 February, 2019 - 9:02 am

    <p>We have a few thousand too few PCs for that… We are updating those PCs we can to Windows 10, the rest will be isolated – some software is only certified to a certain patch level on Windows 7 (you can't even apply the monthly patches to those machines, until the supplier says that those patches are okay!).</p>

  • Patrick3D

    06 February, 2019 - 10:48 am

    <p>I worked on a Windows 7 transition for a company with a few hundred thousand employees. For the few legacy apps that wouldn't work on '7' they simply moved the apps to Citrix and gave every employee access to a virtual desktop that needed to access them. Even with that however, transitioning that many computers to a new OS is more of a scheduling issue than a compatibility issue. Especially considering a little over 35% of the employees worked from home and would act like toddlers throwing a hissy fit when asked to come to the office. I think they would just see a support fee the same as having to pay for a Office license and pass the buck on down to the department managers, taking the fee out of their budgets and push them into getting their subordinates upgraded sooner than later. Basically a pressure cooker the further down the chain you are.</p>

  • waethorn

    06 February, 2019 - 11:00 am

    <p>Misleading headline. Microsoft didn't reveal anything.</p><p><br></p><p>You're declaring second-hand information as coming from Microsoft. That's #fakenews.</p><p><br></p>

    • starkover

      06 February, 2019 - 12:42 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#403018">In reply to Waethorn:</a></em></blockquote><p>Actually, according to the article, Microsoft did reveal the pricing. They revealed it to their enterprise customers. (The only ones directly affected). The reason it's posted is enterprise customers shared it.</p>

  • mikes_infl

    06 February, 2019 - 12:28 pm

    <p>I wonder if there will be "cooperatives" built as an enterprise such that discounted prices will be offered if you let them track your usage. Along the lines of what some of the info gathering firms are paying for already, but with the added benefit of getting Win 7 updates.</p>

  • blackcomb

    06 February, 2019 - 6:10 pm

    <p>Stick to Windows 8.1 for 3 more years and then Windows 10 LTSC all the way. It's sad how trashed Windows is nowadays.</p>

  • andrew b.

    06 February, 2019 - 9:49 pm

    <p>They could probably get a fair number of consumers to pay $50/year for Windows 7.</p>

  • gregjackson

    18 June, 2019 - 4:31 pm

    <p>Does anyone have a link on Microsoft's site I can go to? Microsoft support chat is denying any post 2020 support options</p>

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