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Microsoft has backed down on its threat to stop supporting Microsoft 365 apps on Windows 10 devices when support for the operating system ends in October.
The company is trying to usher businesses and consumers to Windows 11 before support for Windows ends in mid-October. It was previously applying the thumbscrews by threatening to cut off the Microsoft 365 (previously Office 365) apps for Windows 10 users.
“To use Microsoft 365 Applications on your device, you will need to upgrade to Windows 11,” Microsoft stated in a blog post earlier this year. Now, however, the company is backtracking.
In an update to its Microsoft 365 support guidance, Microsoft now states that: “To help maintain security while you transition to Windows 11, Microsoft will continue providing security updates for Microsoft 365 Apps on Windows 10 for three years after Windows 10 reaches end of support. These updates will be delivered through the standard update channels, ending on October 10, 2028.”
This coincides with the Extended Support Updates that Microsoft is offering businesses still running Windows 10, which are available for a further three years from October. Those operating system updates come at a price, however, with the first year costing $61 per machine before doubling to $122 in year two and doubling again to $244 in year three. There’s no mention of a charge to continue receiving the Microsoft 365 updates.
That said, it doesn’t sound like businesses are going to get a great deal of sympathy if they run into issues when continuing to run Microsoft 365 on Windows 10. The company’s guidance states that if the customer experiences a problem with Microsoft 365 apps on Windows 10 that isn’t an issue on Windows 11, “support will ask the customer to move to Windows 11”.
“If the customer is unable to move to Windows 11, support will provide troubleshooting assistance only; technical workarounds might be limited or unavailable,” the guidance adds.
Microsoft’s decision to relax the Microsoft 365 cut-off is a reflection of just how many businesses remain on Windows 10 with less than six months to go until the support cut-off date.
Source: StatCounter Global Stats – Windows Version Market Share
StatCounter’s tracking data measures the operating system used by visitors to more than 1.5 million websites. Its latest figures for April 2025 show that Windows 10 remains the most used version of Windows, with a market share of around 53%. Windows 11 has a 44% share, although it has closed the gap significantly in recent months, as the deadline nears.
