By Tom Warren
Microsoft is providing IT admins with an extra six months of support for some older versions of Windows. The software giant has been working with businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and delay the end of support dates that mostly impact Windows 10 versions.
“Microsoft has been deeply engaged with customers around the world who are impacted by the current public health situation,” says a Microsoft statement. “As a member of the global community, we want to contribute to reducing the stress our customers face right now.”
Microsoft was planning to end support of Windows 10, version 1709 (Enterprise, Education, IoT Enterprise) today, but this has now been extended to October 13th. Windows 10, version 1809 (Home, Pro, Pro Education, Pro for Workstations, IoT Core) was due to enter end of support on May 12th, and Microsoft has extended this to November 10th.
Windows Server version 1809, Configuration Manager version 1810, SharePoint Server 2010, SharePoint Foundation 2010, and Project Server 2010 are also getting end of support delays of around six months. Microsoft is not planning to alter the end of support for Office 2010, Project 2010, Office 2016 for Mac, and Office 2013.
The extensions will be a great relief to many IT admins who are supporting workers remotely through the pandemic. It means patches and security updates will continue to be issued for these older versions of Windows over the next six months. Microsoft says it recognizes the situation is evolving, and the company will “continue to listen to our customers” and update the support note if anything changes.
