Microsoft is cleaning up. The Redmond company is standing firm in supporting some of its most popular platforms, no matter who falls. We have the best example of this with the end of Windows 10, which will be abandoned by Microsoft despite being the most used computer operating system.
In fact, this shouldn’t be a surprise. Microsoft always imposes a support deadline for all its software, after which it stops releasing updates; In the case of Windows 10, the end of support date is October 14, 2025, and it is now confirmed that on this day we will also say goodbye to another very important “software”.
We are talking about Office 2016 and Office 2019, which will be completely discontinued on October 14, 2025on the same day as Windows 10. This will be important for many users who still use the traditional office suite on their computers.
End of Office support
With the end of support for these two versions of Office, Microsoft will stop releasing security updates for the programs that make up these suites. This assumes that the programs will continue to operate after the deadline, but It will not be advisable to continue using them; If any “bugs” or security vulnerabilities are discovered after this date, Microsoft will not be obligated to fix them and will not release patches.
Concretely, the applications which will be abandoned following this end of support will be the following.
- Access 2016
- Access 2019
- Excel 2016
- Excel 2019
- OneNote 2016
- Outlook 2016
- Outlook 2019
- PowerPoint 2016
- PowerPoint 2019
- Project 2016
- Project 2019
- Editor 2016
- Editor 2019
- Skype for Business 2016
- Skype for Business 2019
- Visio2016
- Visio 2019
- Word 2016
- Word 2019
- Exchange Server 2016
- Exchange Server 2019
- Skype for Business Server 2016
- Skype for Business Server 2019
Therefore, if we continue to use Office 2016 or Office 2019, we have about a year and a half to find an alternative. In this case, Microsoft recommends that we make the leap to the cloud and Microsoft 365, its subscription service which offers access to the latest versions of Word and the rest of Office applications; In fact, the name “Office” is no longer used and the apps are simply part of Microsoft 365 with benefits like increased OneDrive storage and advanced features in apps like Microsoft Teams.
The problem is that many users continue to use these versions of Office precisely because they don’t want to (or can’t) use cloud applications. For example, if you don’t want to depend on an internet connection, or if you just want to make a one-time payment instead of paying a yearly subscription. In this case, Microsoft always offers an option: Office 2021, the latest version for now of the office suite and to which users can take the plunge.
Excel 2019
Free Android
However, this is not a forever solution. Microsoft already predicts that End of support for Office 2021 will occur in October 2026, so upgrading to this version will only mean a one-year “breath” for users. It is obvious that Microsoft prefers that we move to its subscription service, although a few months ago there were rumors about a new version of Office that have not been confirmed by the company.
