Microsoft has issued a warning to users of Office that they should move before support for the software ends this year.
“Continuing to use unsupported software can expose your organization to security vulnerabilities, compliance risks, and operational disruptions,”
Microsoft warned in a blog post.
Relating to Office 2016 and 2019, customers are being urged to upgrade to Microsoft 365 before support ends on October 14.
Examining Office
Microsoft Office is a comprehensive suite of productivity software developed by Microsoft that includes a range of applications designed to enhance productivity and facilitate common tasks on computers.
The core components of Microsoft Office are Microsoft Word, a word processing program; Microsoft Excel, a spreadsheet application; Microsoft PowerPoint, a presentation software; Microsoft Outlook, an email client; and Microsoft OneNote, a notetaking tool.
Additionally, it offers Microsoft Access for database management on Windows and OneDrive for cloud storage.
Microsoft has, however, shifted its focus towards Microsoft 365, a broader cloud-based platform that includes these applications along with additional services like Microsoft Teams and its AI Copilot.
As a result, older iterations of the Office package have been getting phased out.
What this means is Microsoft will stop actively addressing issues that arise with this software, whether that would be fixing a bug that users find or even patching security issues that are revealed.
Microsoft said in the blog about upgrading to M365, which never expires. Office 2024, one of the latest iterations, has its support end in October 2029.
However, alongside a difference in features, a core difference between Office and Microsoft 365 is the pricing model.
Office users can make a one-time purchase of Office 2024, which costs $149.
However, Microsoft 365 is available only by subscription, with prices starting at $9.99 a month, or $99.99 a year for the Personal edition.
The move, according to analysts, might be a way to create a stronger revenue model.
Equally, as companies race to implement AI into their workflow, the low-hanging fruit of being able to use Copilot across your suite of tools could be enough of a sell for companies to make the switch.
However, basic Microsoft 365 editions for home users or business users don’t include Teams, so businesses could see a sharp increase in costs making the switch.
Making 365 an Attractive Option
Alongside illustrating the issues that using unsupported software can bring users, Microsoft has been making a push to make their 365 an attractive offering.
Alongside offering things like Copilot and Teams, Microsoft is releasing a raft of updates to its products like Teams to show just how important ongoing support is.
Teams meetings will get a new feature to make messaging during meetings easier; the platform is also set for an ultra-low latency update that will minimize delays when hosting presentations on Town Hall meetings, and new presentation augmentations will allow multiple users to control the slide control feature.
