The Redmond software giant is ending support for two of its most popular products ever - Windows 7 and Office 2010. Both can be considered classic software and they are widely used by users all over the world. On January 14, 2020, Microsoft will terminate support for Windows 7. On October 13, 2020, Office 2010 will stop receiving updates as well.
Microsoft has published two documents (1, 2), pointing out to users that this is the right moment to switch to Windows 10 and Office 365/2016. After January 14, 2020, Windows 7 PCs will stop receiving security updates. They will become more vulnerable to security risks. Windows will operate but your data may stay insecure.
Office 2010, like almost all Microsoft products, has a support lifecycle during which the company provides bug fixes and security fixes. This lifecycle lasts for a certain number of years from the date of the product's initial release. For Office 2010, the support lifecycle is 10 years. The end of this lifecycle is known as the product's end of support. When Office 2010 reaches its end of support on October 13, 2020, Microsoft will no longer provide the following:
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- Technical support for issues
- Bug fixes for issues that are discovered
- Security fixes for vulnerabilities that are discovered
To upgrade the existing Office 2010 licenses, Microsoft offers the following products.
Office 365 ProPlus, the subscription version of Office that comes with most Office 365 enterprise plans.
- Office 2016, which is sold as a one-time purchase and available for one computer per license.
A key difference between Office 365 ProPlus and Office 2016 is that Office 365 ProPlus is updated on a regular basis, as often as monthly, with new features, however, it requires a subscription plan. Office 365 requires an online connection for getting updates and periodic license verification. Office 2016 has the same features that it had when it was released in September 2015. Once activated, it does not require an internet connection.
It is worth mentioning that the average user might be happy with features introduced in Office 2007 or even in earlier Office versions. Upgrades may not have enough compelling features to offer but do offer security fixes.
Windows 7 remains the most popular operating system as of this writing. According to analytics vendor Net Applications, Windows 10 has a user share of 36.6% amongst all personal computers, while Windows 7 runs on 41.2% of all personal computers. This will eventually change, since Microsoft is not interested in supporting or selling Windows 7 any more. Windows 10 is the only version that is allowed to be sold and licensed. Microsoft has also shifted their attention to the Software-as-a-Service business model with Windows 10 and Office 365.
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Well, as Office 2007 official support ended last year, but MS still release security updates for it, i think the same will happen, at least for Office 2010 too…