I am posting this to clarify what is Windows Defender ATP, what it costs, and how it works.
Link: Microsoft rejiggers Windows 10 Enterprise subscriptions, pricing
Windows Defender ATP is only available as a subscription at the Windows 10 Enterprise\Education level.
To get a Windows 10 Enteprise license, you have to purchase a Windows 10 Pro license retail key at $199 and then pay an annual subscription fee for the Enterprise license. Enterprise is not a standalone license. It is an "add-on" annual subscription to Windows 10 Pro. Microsoft has made changes in this area, but the language - as usual - is as clear as mud.
To take full advantage of Windows 10 Enterprise security, a user must also use Microsoft Device Management (InTune) service. InTune is an additional fee on top of the price of a Windows 10 Pro license, the price of the Enterprise subscription, and the subscription fee for Windows ATP.
Windows WADC policies can be created in Enterprise and distributed to ANY version of Windows 10 via device management, but you still have to pay for the policy distribution and ATP services per user per year.
Windows Enterprise comes in two levels - E3 and E5.
E3 includes the fee for InTune but does not include Windows Defender ATP ($104.88 per user per year).
E5 includes the price of both InTune and Windows Defender ATP ($ 177.60 per user per year).
That means the price of Windows Defender ATP is $72.72 per user per year.
None of this includes the subscription costs and other fees for services such as Microsoft Office 365, which can be upwards of $144 for Office ProPlus E5 per year per user.
Microsoft will be doing away with the "Per User" and "Per Device" language, but still the costs will be per license. In other words, word games and marketing gimmicks.
Microsoft has announced it is raising the above prices. TBD. It is possible that prices will come down just a bit - but the language is, you guessed it, as clear as mud.
Total cost = approximately $520 per license\per user per year for full-featured W10 Enterprise and approximately $440 for W10 Pro.
Of course the more you buy, you will get larger discounts and year-end rebates.
Now you should realize how lucky you are paying only $40 per year for a security soft license.
