In a somewhat ironic twist, Microsoft has recently announced that it will extend support for Microsoft 365 on Windows 10 PCs, completely contradicting an announcement last January that support for Microsoft 365 apps would be discontinued when Windows 10 reaches end-of-support.
Obviously, the decision to cut off support for MS 365 apps in Windows 10 annoyed a lot of users, especially those whose subscriptions extend past Windows 10’s end-of-support date. It makes you wonder who the heck at Microsoft is making all these unpopular and often disastrous decisions. The lunatics have taken over the asylum?
In the face of much criticism, Microsoft has now decided to extend security updates for Microsoft 365 in Windows 10 for three years, until 10th October 2028. However, this extended support does come with several conditions:
- If the issue occurs only with Microsoft 365 Apps on Windows 10, with or without Windows 10 Extended Security Updates, and doesn’t occur on Windows 11, support will ask the customer to move to Windows 11.
- If the customer is unable to move to Windows 11, support will provide troubleshooting assistance only; technical workarounds might be limited or unavailable.
- Support incidents for Microsoft 365 Apps running on Windows 10, with or without Extended Security Updates, do not include the option to log a bug or request other product updates.
I guess it’s better than no support at all. In its announcement, Microsoft also warns users that, although the apps will continue to work after Windows 10 reaches end-of-support, it is not advisable to use them on an unsupported operating system, saying it could lead to a degraded experience that can cause performance and reliability issues.
How ironic, then, that Microsoft has taken such a hard line on ending support for Windows 10 while now extending support for Microsoft 365 on Windows 10. Make no bones about it, this is not a decision to appease us humble home users. Microsoft has proven many times over that the company does not care about what we think. In my humble opinion, this turnaround is purely and simply an attempt to appease enterprise users.
- Check out our comprehensive collection of Microsoft 365 Guides
As always, your thoughts are most welcome via the comments.
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