The end of Windows 7 support was the end of an era last week, just as the end of Windows XP had been. As usual, and as promised by Microsoft well in advance, the companies and realities that need it can buy Extended Security Updates (ESU) for a maximum of three years from the end of the support, at relatively reasonable prices.
What is certain is that for those who have a large fleet of machines to update the amount to be paid if you have not switched to Windows 10 or other updated operating systems in time, it could be exaggerated. This is the case with the German government, which could pay 720 thousand euros in 2020 to maintain support on 33 thousand sensitive computers. Spending for the German government is just over € 22 per device, related to Windows Enterprise licensed systems.
For users who use Windows 7 Pro the figure is instead of about € 45 per year for each system to be updated. In addition, the figure for obtaining ESUs doubles year on year over the three years of extended support: this means that if the German government cannot find an alternative to Windows 7 within the next year it should pay about 1.4 million euros in 2021 to keep support on their computers, 2.8 million euros in 2022.
Below all the prices:
Windows Enterprise
- Year 1 – January 2020 / January 2021: $ 25 per device
- Year 2 – January 2021 / January 2022: $ 50 per device
- Year 3 – January 2022 / January 2023: $ 100 per device
Windows 7 Pro
- Year 1 – January 2020 / January 2021: $ 50 per device
- Year 2 – January 2021 / January 2022: $ 100 per device
- Year 3 – January 2022 / January 2023: $ 200 per device
According to Handelsblatt, however, Germany is preparing to avoid bloodletting in the next few years: the government has already started its migration work in 2018, and should complete it in good time. The published figure is then simply an estimate of the costs per unit, while Microsoft intends to collaborate with the various organizations for establish an appropriate price to maintain support on all systems based on the use case.