Important software support dates

Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office releases before Office 2013 are now too old to be used safely and should not be installed on your PC.  None of these old versions are supported by Microsoft:

  • Office 2000 – last updates released July 2009 (Details)
  • Office XP – last updates released July 2011 (Details)
  • Office 2003 – last updates released August 2014 (Details)
  • Office 2007 – last updates released October 2017 (Details)
  • Office 2010 –  last updates released October 2020 (Details)

Microsoft Office releases after Office 2013 are still OK to use and continue to receive security updates:

  • Office 2013 – updates continue until 4 November 2023 (Details)
  • Office 2016 – updates continue until 14 October 2025 (Details)
  • Office 2019 – updates continue until 14 October 2025 (Details)
  • Office 2021 – updates continue until 13 October 2026 (Details)
  • Office 365 is a subscription to the latest version of Office, so if you use that, you’re always up-to-date.

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows released before Windows 10 are now too old to be used safely and should not be installed on your PC.  None of these old versions are supported by Microsoft:

  • Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME
  • Windows NT, Windows 2000
  • Windows XP – last updates released April 2014 (Details)
  • Windows Vista – last updates released April 2017 (Details)
  • Windows 7 – last updates released January 2020 (Details)
  • Windows 8.1 – last updates released January 10 2023 (Details)

Microsoft Windows Windows 10 and Windows 11 are still OK to use and continue to receive security updates:

  • Windows 10 – updates will continue until 14 October 2025 (Details)
  • Windows 11 – updates will continue so long as you use a recent version of Windows 11 – see below

Windows 11

There are only two versions of Windows 11 so far, and both are still being updated. We expect a new version towards the end of 2023 – by which time the “original” version of Windows 11 will have stopped receiving updates.

Windows 11 versionBuild numberReleasedSupported until
  version 22H2 22621September 2022October 2024
  version 21H222000October 2021October 2023

Windows 10

Windows 10 was updated with big upgrades twice a year (each spring and autumn).  Each of the major release of Windows 10 was supported for 18 months after its release, but now only the most recent update is supported. This means that you must make sure that you have the current version of Windows 10 installed because none of the others are supported now. The last update for Windows 10 will be in October 2025, so after this date, you must upgrade to Windows 11 (or more likely replace your PC).

Windows 10 versionBuild numberReleasedSupported until
  version 22H2 19045October 2022October 2025
  version 21H219044November 2021June 2023
  version 21H1 19043May 2021December 2022
   version 20H2 19042October 2020May 2022
   version 2004 19041May 2020December 2021
   version 190918363November 2019May 2021
   version 190318362May 2019December 2020
   version 180917763October 2018April 2020
   version 180317134April 2018November 2019
   version 170916299October 2017April 2019
   version 170315063April 2017October 2018
   version 160714393August 2016April 2018
   version 15111058610 November 2015October 2017
   version 150710240July 2015May 2017

 Which version of Windows do you have?

To identify which version of Windows you’re using, press Win + R and then type winver and press Enter

(The Win key is at the bottom left corner: it might say “Win” on it, but probably just has the Windows flag logo. It will be between the Control and Alt keys)

In the screenshot above, the PC is using version 1803 of Windows 10.  If you’re using such an old version of Windows 10 today, you need to get it updated to a version which is still supported (see the table above).