Microsoft will end support for Office 2010 on PC and Office 2016 on Mac on October 13, 2020. Both productivity suites will continue to remain accessible to users. After October 13, Microsoft’s security updates and bug fixes for Office 2010 on PC and Office 2016 on Mac will cease to exist.
Office 2010, Office 2016 on Mac to lose official support
Considering the fact that these changes will result in the lack of technical support, security and bug fixes, Microsoft is recommending Office 2010 PC and Office 2016 Mac users to upgrade to one of the latest versions of Office in order to remain supported.
Affected users can either upgrade to Office 365 ProPlus or Office 2019. While Office 365 ProPlus is the subscription version of Office that accompanies most Office 365 enterprise plans, Office 2019 is available to purchase as a one-time purchase.
Well, the security risks involved here are most likely to affect enterprise customers. However, non-enterprise customers are also prone to security vulnerabilities that may arise due to the lack of technical support and security fixes, among other things.
Importantly enough, Microsoft is unlikely to extend the October 13, 2020 deadline, beyond which customers of both the productivity suites Office 2010 PC and Office 2016 Mac will have to deal with a number of security and technical issues on their own.
Chances are that after October 13, 2020, Office 2010 and Office 2016 for Mac users connecting to Office 365 online services such as OneDrive and SharePoint may eventually experience reliability issues with those online services.
Although Microsoft will not prevent Office 2010 and Office 2016 Mac users from accessing Office 365 online services, no efforts will be made by the company to enhance and optimize the existing user experience.
Available Options
Microsoft Office customers can select one of the Microsoft 365 plans, to begin with. Affected customers are advised to choose from Office Home & Business 2019, Microsoft 365 Apps for business, and Microsoft 365 Business Standard.
While Office Home & Business subscription costs $249.99 (one-time purchase), Microsoft 365 Apps for business and Microsoft 365 Business Standard cost $8.25 and $12.50 (user/month), respectively.
