Microsoft Support Ending Dates

Microsoft^® Support Ending Dates for Retail/OEM Consumer/SOHO Operating Systems and Front Office Software

Operating Systems	Mainstream Support Ends	Extended Support Ends
Windows 8	January 9, 2018	January 10, 2023
Windows 7	January 13, 2015	January 14, 2020
Windows Vista	Expired	April 11, 2017
Windows XP	Expired	April 8, 2014

Office Suites Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook and Publisher	Mainstream Support Ends	Extended Support Ends
Office 2013 ¹	April 10, 2018	April 11, 2023
Office 365 ²	Ongoing	Not applicable
Office 2011 for Mac	January 12, 2016	Not applicable
Office 2010 and Office Starter ³	October 13, 2015	October 13, 2020
Office 2007 ⁴	Expired	April 11, 2017
Office 2003	Expired	April 8, 2014
Works Plus 2008	Expired	April 8, 2014⁵

1) Office 2013 is supported in 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems. Marketed primarily to business users, Microsoft has priced it very high and no longer offers multi-PC licenses for individual purchase. Office 2013 is not supported by Windows XP. 2) Office 365 is a home and small-business subscription based service compatible with Office 2010 and Office 2007 and supported by Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista SP2 and Windows 7. Designed to compete with Google Docs, an Internet connection is required to access Office 365 cloud-based files and functions. In terms of total cost per user, Office 365 is the best deal for home users seeking the latest Office version. 3) Office 2010 is available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions. 32-bit versions are supported by Windows 7, Windows Vista SP2 and Windows XP SP3 operating systems. Due to download specials, cost is quite reasonable especially Office 2010 Professional and Professional Plus. Office 2010 64-bit versions are not supported by any version of Windows XP. Microsoft Office Starter 2010 includes limited versions of Microsoft Word 2010 and Microsoft Excel 2010. Office Starter 2010 is offered in 32-bit and 64-bit versions with an OEM End User License Agreement (EULA) preinstalled from Dell, HP, and others. Office Starter 2010 may be upgraded to a fully functional version of Office 2010 via online purchase. Because Office Starter 2010 includes setup files for full versions and is considered a business product, it is eligible for extended support.
4) Office 2007 is compatible with Windows XP Service Pack 2 and later operating systems. 5) Works Plus 2008 includes one Office component, Word 2003. Mainstream support has expired. Extended support is only for Microsoft Word 2003.

This document consists of elements of Microsoft support policy and is believed to be reasonably accurate as of April 12, 2013. Items listed above in bold are available retail and OEM wide-release products that are eligible for Mainstream Support. OEM versions sold with Acer, eMachines, Gateway, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo and other computers are not eligible for telephone support from Microsoft. Consumers must contact their computer manufacturer for operating system assistance. Microsoft defines end of support as termination of Windows Update support. To receive the full period of Extended Support from Microsoft, the latest operating system/office suite service pack must be installed. Current Microsoft policy is to provide critical security updates via Microsoft Update or Windows Update sites through the full Extended Support period. At Microsoft's option, compatibility updates may be provided during extended support. Office 2010 is widely available in several versions via retail and online stores and via OEM channels. Potential users should investigate eValueSoftware for high value options. Office 2010 Professional download for two users is available for US $250.00 as of this date. Office 2007 and Office 2003 remain available via reputable online resellers such as VioSoftware.