Technologies

Microsoft Offers Free Windows 10 Extended Security Updates: Here’s How to Get Them

If you want Microsoft to continue to support your PC, you’ll have to use cloud backups linked to your OneDrive account .

Microsoft is closing the door on Windows 10 in October 2025, and will be ceasing security support for that operating system unless users pay $30 for a one-year extended security update. Now, Microsoft has added a free option. Users need to turn on cloud backup and connect it to their OneDrive account.

The ability to get free updates on Windows 10 is a pretty big deal because it is still the most widely used Windows OS, accounting for just over 53% of installs as of May 2025. That leaves millions of people without security support in just a few months unless they upgrade. So the cloud backup option gives users a way out without costing them any money.

The only potential issue is OneDrive. Anyone with a Microsoft account gets up to 5GB of storage for free. However, as The Verge points out, some backups may exceed this limitation, requiring users to purchase a monthly or yearly plan. At $1.99 per month for 100GB of cloud storage, a year of OneDrive still costs less than the $30 for a year of additional security updates, but it still may cause frustration among some users.

Windows 10 was released in July 2015, more than a decade ago.

How to get Windows 10 security updates for free

Per Microsoft’s blog post, there are now three options for people who want to stay on Windows 10 and still receive security updates.

Use Windows Backup to sync settings to the cloud via OneDrive.
Redeem 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points. Redeeming those points can buy you one year of security updates.
Pay $30 for the extended security updates program.

Users will be presented with these options starting in July, which is when Microsoft plans to roll out the sign-up wizard for the Extended Security Updates program. Signing up for this option will guarantee updates until Oct. 13, 2026, although businesses will have the option to purchase up to three years of additional updates. So, this isn’t a long-term solution, but rather gives consumers more time to upgrade to Windows 11.

It’s been an uphill battle for Microsoft as people have been resilient in upgrading their existing hardware. There are myriad differences between the two operating systems, but Microsoft’s string of unpopular decisions along with Windows 11 compatibility issues have kept the prior generation OS around a lot longer than it normally would be.

Technologies

You Can Now Watch Mini Dramas on TikTok’s Standalone ‘PineDrama’ App

Single Dad Hunt, Cohabitating Romance and other bite-size sugar fixes have earned their own app.

TikTok looks like it’s doubling down on the «pine» in its mini dramas with the new PineDrama app, now available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play. It’s free, likely until the company has amassed a large enough content library worth paying for.

At the moment, everything looks like romantic potboilers, but since microdramas are popular and getting more so even as I type, that’s bound to change. You’ve probably seen microdramas and the various apps with which you watch them in your social media ads — they’re short movies or TV shows that last one or two minutes per episode.

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The PineDrama app is fairly basic. There’s a central Home screen with your feed and trending videos, along with access to your history and all videos. Discover offers just slightly larger thumbnails for browsing all or trending videos. Inbox is for system and new follower notifications, and a Profile view shows you your favorites, how many people you’re following, and your followers and likes.

Though a standalone app, PineDrama uses the main TikTok sign-in system, so you still need a TikTok account to access it. Given that the content looks a little like what’s available in the TikTok app, anyone who wants to use PineDrama probably has an account anyway.

Personally, I’m not a fan of miniseries. I’ve never been able to read comics until they’ve been collected into volumes, and can’t stream shows until an entire season — sometimes every season — is out. (None of which makes sense, given I’ve got the attention span of a cat in a room full of laser pointers.)

But sometimes you need a dopamine hit, and PineDrama lets you watch every single episode sequentially. And viewing just the first frame of each is kind of mesmerizing: From kiss to post-coital to packing a suitcase in just three swipes.

We reached out to TikTok for comment, but didn’t immediately hear back.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, Jan. 17

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Jan. 17.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? You’ll have to know your regional food specialties in order to solve 8-Across. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: «It’s just so-so»
Answer: MEH

4A clue: «Impression, Sunrise» painter
Answer: MONET

6A clue: Ca on the periodic table
Answer: CALCIUM

8A clue: City that’s famous for its lemon pepper wings
Answer: ATLANTA

9A clue: Reality show episode in which cast members gather again to bicker
Answer: REUNION

10A clue: Common wall coverings in a dorm room
Answer: POSTERS

11A clue: Boxing bout enders, for short
Answer: KOS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Snail, clam or squid
Answer: MOLLUSK

2D clue: 2021 Disney movie with the hit song «We Don’t Talk About Bruno»
Answer: ENCANTO

3D clue: Tushes
Answer: HEINIES

4D clue: San ___, city between San Francisco and Palo Alto
Answer: MATEO

5D clue: Private teacher
Answer: TUTOR

6D clue: Complain
Answer: CARP

7D clue: «Dogs are a ___ best friend»
Answer: MANS

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Technologies

ChatGPT Ads Coming Soon for Free and New $8 Go Tier Users

OpenAI says that it won’t serve ads based on sensitive topics like mental health or politics.

OpenAI has announced that it’s testing ads for its free tier and new $8-per-month Go memberships, and the ads will be based on a user’s current conversation.

OpenAI says the ads will be clearly marked and appear at the bottom of ChatGPT answers «when there’s a relevant sponsored product or service based on your current conversation.»

Meanwhile, the company says the new Go tier enables 10 times as many messages, file uploads, and image creations as the free tier, and also remembers more details about you over time. The new $8 Go tier joins ChatGPT Plus at $ 20 per month and ChatGPT Pro at $ 200 per month.

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The company says it won’t show ads on «sensitive or regulated topics like health, mental health or politics.» It also said it won’t show ads to users who tell the chatbot they are under 18 or to users the system predicts are minors. Furthermore, the company says it will keep individual conversations private from advertisers and never sell user data to advertisers.

The company also says that users can turn off personalization and can clear the data used for ads at any time.

Last week, OpenAI announced a new ChatGPT Health service, which enables users to upload their health data. However, privacy experts warned that the company wasn’t covered by a health provider’s privacy protections.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)