Microsoft Office 2013: a last year of life

In October of this year It will be 10 years since the arrival of Microsoft Office 2013a version of Microsoft’s office suite that, without being one of the most notable for the number of new features provided, did add some interesting functions, while maintaining a continuous line that facilitated the transition for many users, not fond of interface changes, such as the one that arrived in Office 2007 with Office Fluent and the now more than established tape.

Since the release of Office 2013, we have seen the arrival, successively, of the 2016, 2019 and 2021 versions. However, its life cycle is still active, so this version continues to be supported by Microsoft, and it still receives regular updates, which is key to guaranteeing its security. And we are talking about quite popular software, so security researchers on the one hand and cybercriminals on the other, continue to look for possible security problems that could compromise this office suite.

However, everything has an end and, as MSPoweruser reminds, Microsoft Office 2013 has already entered the last year of its life cycle, which will last until April 11, 2023. In this way, what was previously announced by Redmond is fulfilled, with five years of standard support and another five of extended support. Thus, except for surprises, something unlikely, when that date arrives Office 2013 will no longer receive new updates and, consequently, it will no longer be a safe option.

A) Yes, The best thing to do is to start preparing the update now.. And yes, it is true that it is still a year away, but since Office 2013 is already in the last phase of its cycle, it is very unlikely that it will receive more than security updates. And, on the other hand, with a term of one year, we have plenty of time to start looking for interesting offers. If we leave it until the last minute, we expose ourselves to not finding any, and having to pay a higher price to be able to update.

Regarding Microsoft’s recommendations for this update, the company recommends make the jump from Office 2013 to Microsoft 365, its subscription service, or to Office LTS 2021in the case of users who want to have the same version for a very long period of time, with the peace of mind that it will have the extra support that technology companies give to all their LTS-type products.