Until Microsoft hadn’t already made it very clear that it needs you to upgrade your Windows 10 PC this year, the corporate has introduced it can cease supporting Workplace apps on the older OS come October.
In a blog post, Microsoft confirmed that to proceed utilizing the Microsoft 365 suite of apps in your machine, you’ll “have to improve to Home windows 11” by October 14—the identical day that assist may even stop for Home windows 10. And in lots of instances, upgrading to Home windows 11 would require upgrading your machine too.
That’s as a result of Home windows 11 has some fairly hefty hardware requirements that hundreds of thousands of older machines can’t meet, and Microsoft has already confirmed it has no intention of budging these conditions.
It’s so assured within the transfer that Yusef Mehdi, Microsoft’s chief advertising and marketing officer declared 2025 the “yr of the Home windows 11 PC refresh.”
“Whether or not the present PC wants a refresh, or it has safety vulnerabilities that require the most recent hardware-backed safety, now could be the time to maneuver ahead with a brand new Home windows 11 PC,” he wrote in one other blog post, earlier this month.
It’s truthful to say that a number of the machines that received’t attain these minimal {hardware} necessities may very well be approaching 10 years old, and will in all probability do with an improve anyway. However it’s additionally true that the sheer variety of Home windows 10 machines on the market—information revealed by Statcounter in December 2024 suggests there are virtually double the variety of PCs operating Home windows 10 than Home windows 11—means getting all of them converted earlier than assist ends is unlikely.
There may be some excellent news for any Home windows 10 customers hoping to cling on and nonetheless use their Workplace apps. Identical to the working system itself, Microsoft 365 received’t fall off a cliff and cease working come October 14. Microsoft has confirmed that Workplace apps “will proceed to perform as earlier than,” however that there may very well be “efficiency and reliability points over time” as safety and have updates cease coming by means of.
If that is your tactic, it could be price contemplating Microsoft’s Extended Security Updates, that are being supplied to customers for the primary time. Customers pays $30 to maintain their PC safe with updates for a yr, whereas companies can defend their machines for as much as three. It will not cease your apps from falling outdated, in fact, however will a minimum of assist to maintain the nasties out whilst you plot your subsequent transfer.
