Microsoft gives Windows 10 users three extra years of Office support

[Alfonso Maruccia]

In context: Microsoft will officially end support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025, though enterprise organizations willing to pay the fare will be able to extend support for a few additional years. However, users running Office applications or the Microsoft 365 suite will also receive extended support, at no additional cost.

Earlier this year, Microsoft had clearly stated that Office apps running on Windows 10 would lose support alongside the operating system. Now, Redmond has partially revised its position and will provide several more years of official support for users running Office tools or the Microsoft 365 suite on Windows 10 machines.

According to the recently updated support article, Microsoft 365 apps will continue to receive security patches and bug fixes on Windows 10 until October 10, 2028. "If your organization is using Microsoft 365 Apps on devices running Windows 10, those devices should move to Windows 11," Microsoft warns just in case.

The company had already confirmed plans to continue updating Windows Defender malware definitions "at least" until October 2028.

Meanwhile, support for the pay-once, subscription-free versions of the Office suite (Office 2021, Office 2024) follows a different fixed-lifecycle policy. This policy guarantees a minimum of five years of mainstream support, meaning Office 2021 and Office 2024 will continue to receive official updates on Windows 10 until October 2026 and October 2029, respectively.

A separate support page detailing Office compatibility with different Windows versions still lists October 2025 as the end-of-support date for the full productivity suite on Windows 10. However, the aforementioned fixed-lifecycle policy remains in effect.

So why did Microsoft decide to extend Office support on an operating system that's nearing its end of life? There's no official explanation yet, but we can speculate based on how the transition to Windows 11 is progressing.

In its Microsoft 365 support article, Microsoft explains that the new timeline is intended to keep customers secure while they transition to the newer OS. Die-hard Windows 10 users will still be able to purchase an Extended Security Updates (ESU) license after October 2025, while enterprise organizations can pay for continued support until October 10, 2028. Keeping Office apps updated while the ESU program is active will likely offer tangible benefits to Microsoft's software business.

On the flip side, Microsoft's apparent willingness to accommodate Windows 10 holdouts also serves its ongoing push to get users to adopt Windows 11.

Hundreds of millions of perfectly functioning PCs will be left behind soon, and Microsoft would very much like force users to purchase a brand-new system. The company is also exploiting a few dirty tricks with its diverse software portfolio, like slowing down OneNote on Windows 10 to encourage people to finally enjoy their new Windows 11 environment.

Permalink to story:

Microsoft gives Windows 10 users three extra years of Office support

 

[Theinsanegamer]

The transition is going slower because, contrary to popular belief, you cannot simply manifest interest in a product nobody wants.

There's no genuine interest in 11 or anything it offers over 10, on the contrary people hate many of its newer features like Recall and gutted context menus.

The other elephant is that there are tens if not hundreds of millions of PCs out there that cannot officially update to 11 because MS feels like it knows better, and those people cannot afford a new PC, so they will continue to use 10 for years to come. Especially outside the USA, consumer spending is far more restricted and buying a new $400+ PC is a pretty big ordeal.

 

[loki1944]

"Gives" lol; more like: "Is forced to"

 

[AJ North]

Another (and arguably far better) option to extend the timeline for security updates for Windows 10 (and various applications in addition) is 0patch: https://0patch.com/, who will be adopting Win 10 when it goes EOL in October. They will be supporting it for at least five years.

 

[themastergoose]

Another (and arguably far better) option to extend the timeline for security updates for Windows 10 (and various applications in addition) is 0patch: https://0patch.com/, who will be adopting Win 10 when it goes EOL in October. They will be supporting it for at least five years.

Dubious value at £25 a year, given the free plan doesn’t seem to cover patching Windows 10. Whatever they claim they’re patching with microcode changes is even more dubious on a largely closed source OS?

 

[AJ North]

Dubious value at £25 a year, given the free plan doesn’t seem to cover patching Windows 10. Whatever they claim they’re patching with microcode changes is even more dubious on a largely closed source OS?

0patch Explained: How It Works and What It Means for the End of Windows 10
PC Magazine, 30 September 2024
https://www.pcmag.com/explainers/0p...orks-and-what-it-means-for-the-end-of-windows

0Patch promises Windows 10 support until 2030
NotebookCheck, 1 July 2024
https://www.notebookcheck.net/0Patch-promises-Windows-10-support-until-2030.855072.0.html

Long Live Windows 10… With 0patch (5+ more years of support)
AskWoody, 27 June 2004
https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/long-live-windows-10-with-0patch-5-more-years-of-support/

A Peek at 0patch
Okta Security, 11 November 2016
https://sec.okta.com/articles/2016/11/a-peek-at-0patch/

 

[Anton Longshot]

Another (and arguably far better) option to extend the timeline for security updates for Windows 10 (and various applications in addition) is 0patch: https://0patch.com/, who will be adopting Win 10 when it goes EOL in October. They will be supporting it for at least five years.

Definitely an option. However, NOT for people who aren't good with PC's and also not for people who don't want to or cannot spend money on this. There are MANY people in both categories and they'll be left in the cold should Microsoft cut off Win 10 updates in october. Mind you, everybody else will have to deal with the increasing number and size of botnets.

 

[ZedRM]

So wait, no more security patches but 3 more years of MSOffice support? How does this make any sense at all?!?

 

[AJ North]

So wait, no more security patches but 3 more years of MSOffice support? How does this make any sense at all?!?

Who's on first?

 

[Loadedaxe]

Microsoft might change their minds and make Windows 10 more like 11 after all, a huge number of users are still on 10. It's a short sighted move to cut support or limit compatibility, especially when users are already dropping Microsoft 365 subscriptions over the forced upgrade which is why they are back peddling on support for 365. I did exactly that, I dropped 365, and switched to OnlyOffice.

I'm not playing along with Microsoft's upgrade game. I'm currently transitioning my software to Linux. My rig’s a 6700K with 64GB of RAM and two 2TB SSDs, it runs perfectly fine. I’m not upgrading for no good reason.

I don’t need the latest Windows bloat. I get work done, and the games I do play, like StarCraft 2 and classic WoW run great on Linux.

 

[Loadedaxe]

0patch Explained: How It Works and What It Means for the End of Windows 10
PC Magazine, 30 September 2024
https://www.pcmag.com/explainers/0p...orks-and-what-it-means-for-the-end-of-windows

0Patch promises Windows 10 support until 2030
NotebookCheck, 1 July 2024
https://www.notebookcheck.net/0Patch-promises-Windows-10-support-until-2030.855072.0.html

Long Live Windows 10… With 0patch (5+ more years of support)
AskWoody, 27 June 2004
https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/long-live-windows-10-with-0patch-5-more-years-of-support/

A Peek at 0patch
Okta Security, 11 November 2016
https://sec.okta.com/articles/2016/11/a-peek-at-0patch/

I did not know 0patch was for Windows 7 as well.

I wonder how many people are using it with Windows 7 currently. Nice articles.

 

[LimyG]

They will probably end up extending support. MS won't want to be responsible for millions of unpatched W10 machine which would make the whole online world more risky. MS aren't exactly quick to patch, but they would have to really up their game with W11 if millions of W10 are still connected to the internet.

They extended for XP, and if memory serves for W7 too.
At the very least they will have to continue support for defender (which they will), but they will also need to release security patches. I'd be surprised if they don't - we'll know at the last minute of course.

They don't and won't give any feature updates which is a very good thing indeed!
Windows 10 is sounding better all the time. No experimental start menus, poorly implemented A.I. or other features. Even the implementation of telemetry into just about every aspect of W11, which it is nicely designed for will not be such a concern or annoyance for W10.

It's all good news for win 10 users. Turn off remote, and good to go for a few more years.

 

[AJ North]

I did not know 0patch was for Windows 7 as well.

I wonder how many people are using it with Windows 7 currently. Nice articles.

Indeed, 0patch was originally developed to secure Windows 7 before it reached EOL. Eight Win 7 machines under my wing continue to be protected by it flawlessly.