In recent years, more and more applications are switching from packaged versions to subscription versions. Under such circumstances, Microsoft ended support for “Office 2013” on April 11, 2023 (local time). Continuing to use products whose support has ended is often subject to cyberattacks and is highly risky. This time, let’s unravel such dangers and what users who have been using Office 2013 should do.
What happens when support ends?
After the end of support, security risks such as harmful viruses, spyware infections, and information leaks, as well as technical support, will not be covered.
One-off Office has mainstream support and extended support, and each deadline is fixed. With mainstream support, you can receive all support such as providing updates, adding new functions, and changing specifications for at least five years from the release. The extended support that can be received after the end of mainstream support is that only security updates are provided free of charge.
After the end of extended support, all updates will no longer be provided, increasing the possibility of serious risks such as virus infection and information leakage. Exchanging files with external parties is risky, and it can be said that it is almost impossible to continue using it. Before the extended support ends, it is necessary to take measures such as introducing a new version of Office.
Is it time to subscribe?Will Microsoft 365 become mainstream in the future?
One of the features of Microsoft 365 is that you can use 1TB of online storage in addition to Office apps (image quoted from “Microsoft” official website).
To use Office, there are the subscription-type service “Microsoft 365” and the purchased version of the Office series, and currently the products within the mainstream support period are “Office 2019” and Office 2021. However, Office 2019 main stream support is until October 10, 2023, and extended support is also until October 14, 2025, so it would be better to avoid introducing a new one. In addition, the latest version, Office 2021, does not have extended support, and all support ends on October 13, 2026, the deadline for mainstream support.
Microsoft 365 can use up to 1TB of online storage “OneDrive” in addition to apps such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and can be used up to 5 devices with one license, which is more possible than the one-time purchase version. The usage fee is 12,984 yen per year for “Microsoft 365 Personal” for one user. For reference, the purchased version of “Office Home & Business 2021” can be installed on two computers for 32,784 yen. It seems good to judge by the number of devices used and the need for online storage.
In addition, since Office 2021 does not have extended support, it can only be used until October 13, 2026, and there is no information about the release schedule of the next version, so it is possible that it will move only to Microsoft 365 in the future. be.
I don’t know the future trends yet, but anyway, using unsupported software is very risky. If you are using Office 2013, we recommend that you immediately install Office 2016 or later or Microsoft 365.
Quote source:【Microsoft】