Microsoft made a number of announcements today regarding Windows support. Windows 10 Enterprise and Education SKUs are getting 30 months of support now, but also, the company publicly said that Windows 7 users will be able to get paid security updates beyond the end of life in 2020.
Extended support for the OS ends on January 14, 2020, so businesses will be able to get Extended Security Updates (ESUs) until January 2023. According to Microsoft, these updates will be sold on a per-device basis, with a price increase every year. In other words, this isn't so you can stay on Windows 7 for three extra years; it's to make the move to Windows 10 easier.
It's only available for Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Enterprise customers that use Volume Licensing, and Microsoft said there's a discount for any businesses that have Windows software assurance, Windows 10 Enterprise, or Windows 10 Education subscriptions. While the firm was very clear that certain circumstances will cause the ESUs to cost more or less, it did not provide any actual pricing.
Microsoft also announced some changes to Office 365 ProPlus support. It announced back in February that beginning in 2020, Office 365 will no longer work on Windows 8.1 and older systems. The company is now correcting this. You'll be able to install it on Windows 8.1 until January 2023, which is the end of extended support date for the OS. And if you're paying for ESUs on Windows 7, you can also install it until January 2023.
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