Inside the olden days, Microsoft's support plan for Windows and Office was simple. Each release had 6 years of mainstream support, that it received security updates, feature improvements, and stability fixes. That's followed by five more decades of extended support, when it received security updates only.

With Windows 10 and "Windows-as-a-service," that policy got all shaken up. Over the years of refining data, Microsoft settled on the on-going scheme. Mainstream Windows, Office, and Windows Server users tend to be the Semi-Annual Channel (SAC). They get two major servicing updates every 12 months, with each version named by using a two-digit year, two-digit month; today's version is 1709 so it was incorporated September 2017. Its successor might be built in March 2018, hence named 1803. Best man releases receives Eighteen months of security updates, as well as every Office SAC release is just supported on supported Windows SAC releases.

For organizations that can't or won't utilise the SAC, there is also a Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC). Windows, Office, and Windows Server LTSC releases are sold every a few years and acquire the traditional several years mainstream plus several extended support policy.

The Office LTSC and Windows Server LTSC releases are perpetually licensed. Windows 10 LTSC releases are exclusively for customers with volume licensing subscriptions. Office SAC and Windows Server SAC releases tend to be simply available to Office 365 and Software Assurance subscribers (respectively); Windows 10 SAC releases are for sale to both subscribers in addition to being perpetually licensed boxed products.

Microsoft is today announcing some modifications to this idea. The last three Windows SAC releases-versions 1709, 1703, and 1607-are receiving an extra a few of support. Microsoft says that, while the overall reception in the SAC policy is positive, companies are still having to work to ensure their internal systems and third-party dependencies are equipped to handle it. Giving these releases a handful of extra months of support, Microsoft assures us, will help to smooth that transition.

From January 14, 2020, Office ProPlus-the SAC type of Office that comes with most Office 365 subscriptions-will no longer be supported on any LTSC release of Windows 10, Windows Server 2016, or Windows 8.1 (or older; Windows 7 extended support leads to January 2020, so Office probably will not be supported on that operating system either). Have an effect on Windows Server 2016, in particular, will be significant for organizations that come with Office apps using Remote Desktop and VDI. Windows Server SAC may not offer the full desktop experience; that's accessible to LTSC releases. Microsoft promises new Remote Desktop and VDI capabilities for Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows Server that can help with this usage scenario.

The subsequent LTSC releases of Office and Windows 10 happen to be in the second a large part of this year, named Office 2019 and Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2018 respectively. Office 2019 will need Windows 10 SAC, Windows 10 LTSC 2018, or even next Windows Server LTSC release. They may be solely build up as a Click-to-Run installation package. The average MSI installer will not be offered.

Office 2019 won't, however, provde the usual five-plus-five support policy. Instead, its support lifecycle is tied to Office 2016; after 5yrs of mainstream support, it really is receive pair of years of extended support, with both Office 2016 and Office 2019 extended support ending on October 14, 2025. The corresponding server-side products including Exchange and SharePoint will be limited to five plus two support. Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2018 will keep the full five-plus-five policy.

Microsoft claims that this curtailed extended support will help migrating to Office 365 easier. Last year, the company said that-as of October 13, 2020-Office 365 services will only be supported on Office SAC or any type of Office LTSC that's still in mainstream support. That's in comparison to the situation presently, which is where Office 365 also supports versions of Office which are in extended support.

The company was canrrrt explain to us quite how shortening the extended support period might create migration to Office 365 easier, nor could it offer any particular rationale for tying the Office 2019 support period at the Office 2016 lifecycle; it's apparently just a coincidence the fact that two products lose support on the same day.

A more cynical reader might wonder if this signals the upcoming death for this LTSC releases entirely-though Microsoft insists to all of us that it does not have any plans to drop perpetual Office licenses-or in any case a move off the five-plus-five lifecycle. An organization that favors stability and perpetual licenses that deploys Windows 10 LTSC 2018 and Office 2019 will, in late 2025, be in the peculiar situation associated with desktop systems that remain supported for several more years, therefore no supported type of Office to actually carry them: Office 2019's support have expired, and Office 2022 normally takes the use of Windows 10 LTSC 2021. One wonders what these products are supposed to do for ones final a few years of their supported life.