Earlier this week, Microsoft reminded customers that support for Microsoft Office 2013 will end next year, advising them to upgrade to a newer version to mitigate security risks.

“After five years of core support and five years of extended support, Office 2013 will reach the end of extended support on April 11, 2023. Microsoft has told customers that under its fixed lifetime policy, security updates for Office 2013 will not be available after this date.

“After the end of support for Office 2013, Microsoft will not provide any new security updates, and continued use of Office 2013 beyond April 2023 may increase your organization’s exposure to security risks or affect your ability to comply with regulatory requirements.”

After the support period, Microsoft will stop providing certain services to Office 2013 licensees, including technical support, bug fixes, and security fixes for new issues. Additionally, connecting Office 2013 clients to Microsoft 365 may cause performance or reliability issues as Office 2013 is no longer supported by the client as of October 2020.

Update options for Office 2013 users

The upgrade options available for Office 2013 are Microsoft 365, a subscription version of Office that comes with many Microsoft 365 and Office LTSC 2021. Microsoft 365 programs come with many Microsoft 365 and Office 365 enterprise and business plans and allow end users to install full versions. Office applications on multiple devices.

Office LTSC 2021 is sold as a one-time purchase under a volume license agreement and can be installed on only one computer per license.

The main difference between the two versions of Office is that Microsoft 365 programs are regularly updated with new features, while Office LTSC 2021 has the same features as the day it was released in September 2021.

“Please begin upgrading to Microsoft 365 programs designed to receive regular updates and help you stay up to date with security updates and new features,” the statement said. “Alternatively, consider upgrading to Office LTSC 2021 if your organization needs a static fixed product.”

Office 2013 Update Plan

“Because Microsoft 365 comes with many Microsoft 365 (and Office 365) enterprise plans, you should review the features of your current plan as part of planning your migration to Microsoft 365,” the company explains. “For example, before you distribute Microsoft 365 software, you must ensure that all your users have accounts and licenses.”

In related news, Microsoft also reminded customers that various versions of Windows 10 20H2 and Windows 10 1909 will arrive on EOS in May 2022 and various versions of the .NET Framework on April 26. Source