Unless Microsoft has made it clear that it wants you to upgrade to Windows 10 PCs this year, the company has announced that it will stop supporting Office apps on the older OS in October. using Microsoft 365 apps on your machine, you must “upgrade to Windows 11” on October 14 – the same day support will also end for Windows 10. And in many cases, upgrading to Windows 11 also requires upgrading your machine. That’s because Windows 11 has some pretty big hardware requirements that millions of older machines can’t meet, and Microsoft has confirmed that it has no intention of enforcing those prerequisites. Mehdi, Microsoft’s chief marketing officer declared 2025 as “the year of Windows 11 PC refresh.” “Whether your current PC needs a refresh, or has security vulnerabilities that require the latest hardware-backed protection, now is the time to move forward with a new Windows 11 PC,” he wrote in another blog post earlier this month. ‘t reach that the minimum hardware requirements can approach 10 years, and probably can do with an upgrade anyway. But it is also true that the number of Windows 10 machines out there—data published by Statcounter in December 2024 suggests almost twice the number of PCs running Windows 10 than Windows 11—means that everything can be turned on before the end of support is impossible. There’s some good news for any Windows 10 user hoping to stick around and still use the Office apps. Like the operating system itself, Microsoft 365 isn’t going to fall off a cliff and stop working on October 14th. Microsoft has confirmed that Office applications “will continue to work as before,” but there may be “performance and reliability issues over time.” as security and feature updates stop coming through. If this is your strategy, it may be worth considering Microsoft’s Extended Security Updates, which is offered to consumers for the first time. Users can pay $ 30 to keep their PC safe with updates for a year, while businesses can protect their machines for up to three. It will not stop the app from falling out of date, but at least it will help to maintain it nasties out while you plan your next move.
Microsoft Ending Support for Windows 10 Office Apps in October
