Microsoft has pledged to support and issue security fixes for M365 apps on Windows 10 into late 2028. That’s well past a cut-off point of October 14 this year, when Redmond’s support for Windows 10 officially ends unless you buy an extended support package.

A note issued Thursday with little to no fanfare clarifies Microsoft 365 subscribers using Windows 10 will still be able to get security patches for those familiar applications through the usual channels until October 10, 2028.

If the customer is unable to move to Windows 11, support will provide troubleshooting assistance only

And support issues can still be raised by subscribers for their 365 apps – such as Word and Excel – on Windows 10, though there’s a catch after October 14 to coincide with Win10: If a support problem arises in those Microsoft 365 apps on Windows 10, and that issue isn’t present on Windows 11, Microsoft will lean on you to upgrade to version 11.

“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,” the bulletin reads.

“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.”

Speaking of which, Windows users aren’t too keen on Windows 11 – especially the hardware it demands. In these tightening times, asking people to buy a new computer just for the operating system is a stretch, and even more so for a corporate IT manager running hundreds or thousands of clients.

On forums, Surface users seem to be officially peeved about this. The list of unsupported hardware includes the first and second generation Surface books, versions 1 through 5 of the very expensive Surface Pro fondleslabs, and the first iterations of the Surface Laptop, Go, and Studio.

Currently, according to Statcounter, version 10 has a global Windows desktop market share of 53 percent, compared to Windows 11’s 44 percent – and that’s after version 11 has been out for four years. There are still a few Windows 7 diehards at 2 percent, and the rest are made up of Windows 8 and XP systems that are probably embedded or irreplaceable systems. ®