October 15, 2025: Changed the headline and some of the copy to note that the one-year extended security updates can be opted into for free if you are logged into a Microsoft account and have your settings synced. Previously the article stated that a $30 fee was required, but this has now been corrected.
If the past few weeks of being battered around the ears by calls to upgrade Windows 10 wasn't enough, the final cumulative update for the operating system might be a final reminder of why to do so. That's because the , version KB5066791, fixes .
The latest patch includes fixes for zero-day exploits including privilege escalation, secure boot bypass, memory corruption, and TPM information retrieval. 'Zero-day' means these exploits were discovered and exploitable before there was a fix released for them, meaning systems have been vulnerable to these ones until now.
Zero-days can be particularly [[link]] scary, with devs scrambling to find a fix for them before users (or too many users) become affected by them. They're one of the main reasons to keep your system updated… provided you're offered those updates, of course, which is the whole point here.
It wasn't Windows 8
How big of a deal is security really?
As it stands, these important updates will install right away when Windows Update starts chugging, and then after the other smattering of updates in KB5066791 are done, that'll be it.
If you're considering upgrading to Windows 11 so you can [[link]] keep receiving security (and other) updates, it might be best to . The official Microsoft Media Creation Tool, which is usually used to create a Windows 11 installation drive, has recently , but Rufus should still work.
Don't sweat it too much, either, if you're worried about upgrading. There are some differences between Windows 10 and 11, but they're hardly [[link]] worlds apart, and most users should find the transition fine. You can also hang on for a little while longer to backup all your data properly before you upgrade, if that's your concern.

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