Back in January of this year, Microsoft announced that it would cease online support for its iconic Office suite on Windows 10 from 14 October onwards, right as the company plans to stop handing out free security updates to all those still using Windows 10 (unless they’re willing to pay, of course). The software giant has now performed a massive reversal and extended the deadline for Windows 10 Office support by three years to 10 October 2028.
Microsoft moves the goalposts
Microsoft says it’s doing this “to help maintain security while you transition to Windows 11,” after which it “will continue providing security updates for Microsoft 365 Apps on Windows 10 for three years after Windows 10 reaches end of support… These updates will be delivered through the standard update channels, ending on October 10, 2028.”
Office, nowadays called Microsoft 365, will continue to enjoy semi-regular updates for Windows 10, but the software giant implores customers everywhere to upgrade to Windows 11 within the three-year timeframe, especially for businesses if they want “to avoid performance and reliability issues over time.”
The software giant quietly slipped the update into an existing support article for IT administrators. But this amiable tone is a far cry from the earlier update promising a Draconian cutoff for Office support on Windows 10, warning that “to use [365] Applications on your device, you will need to upgrade to Windows 11.”
The corporation will only continue to incentivise users to upgrade to Windows 11. At this year’s CES conference, the tech corporation announced 2025 as “the year of the Windows 11 PC refresh,” despite lagging adoption for the generally unpopular Windows 11, at least in comparison to its predecessor.
Microsoft is also allowing consumers to pay $30 (∼R553) for an extra year of Extended Security Updates, which businesses can further extend to three years.
