The third and final year of Extended Security Updates for Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 ended on October 13, 2026 — Microsoft caps ESU at three years after end of support, so no further on-premises security patches are available at any price. Any 2012-era server still in production is now exposed to new vulnerabilities, and each on-premises ESU year had cost 100% of the full license price, so continuing to defer has been the expensive path. Microsoft’s recommended routes are upgrading to a current Windows Server version or moving the workload to Azure, where ESU for the three-year period carried no charge beyond the cost of running the VM. If you still have one of these servers, price a Windows Server upgrade against an Azure migration now and confirm licensing details in your quote.
LICENSING BRIEF ·