Windows 10 end of support

Hi christos1:

You might want to read the feedback posted in WSjcgc50's 16-Apr-2025 0patch in the AskWoody forum.  If you search that AskWoody forum for "0patch" you'll find many other topics discussing Win 10 ESU vs 0patch, including b's 17-Feb-2026 post # 2844111 in Susan Bradley's Jumping back into the patching waters ***, which quotes the following section from the 0patch FAQ article Our micropatches for Windows and Microsoft Office versions that no longer receive official security fixes :

This article presents the current status of vulnerabilities affecting Windows versions that we have "security adopted" , as well as the current status of our micropatches issued for these vulnerabilities. Note that in order for us to issue a micropatch for a vulnerability, we must consider it high-risk and have a test case ("POC", proof-of-concept) at hand to be able to reproduce and analyze the issue. Accordingly, only vulnerabilities currently eligible for micropatching are included in the table. 

From the 0patch FAQ article Do you provide all security patches that would otherwise be delivered via Microsoft's Extended Security Updates? :

No. Microsoft's Extended Security Updates (ESU) include Critical and Important security patches for Windows versions that have reached end of support, according to their definition in Microsoft's Security Update Severity Rating System.

Our criteria for micropatching a vulnerability are specified here and are not identical to Microsoft's; while we expect ours and Microsoft's criteria to mostly overlap when it comes to high-risk vulnerabilities, it may happen that we decide not to micropatch some vulnerabilities Microsoft includes in ESU, but also that we do micropatch Windows issues that aren't included in ESU.

I have enrolled my Win 10 machine in Microsoft's ESU program but have decided not to use 0patch because I feel any additional protection offer by 0patch is limited as long as Microsoft continues to push out their own security patch for Win 10 via their ESU program, and I currently plan to purchase a new Win 11 laptop before the Win 10 ESU program expires on 13-Oct-2026. However, users with a Microsoft Office 2016 or 2019 product that has reached end-of-support might find using 0patch is worthwhile. 

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*** NOTE: In order to read the full text of Susan Bradley's original article "Jumping back into the patching waters" in the weekly AskWoody Plus Newsletter (Issue 23.07.0, 2026-02-16) you must purchase an AskWoody Plus membership for a minimum $6 USD/year contribution.  A good investment in my opinion.

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