2020 is going to be a very busy year for Microsoft and all product users of this company. Surely we all know that, in a week, Windows 7 support comes to an end , and that, from then on, this operating system will stop receiving support and updates, going into the history of operating systems with Windows XP, Vista and many other products. However, Windows 7 is not the only Microsoft product that will reach its EoL phase this year.
The end of support is not something we should take lightly. When a product, be it a program, an operating system or a service, reaches this phase of its life cycle, it automatically goes to a better life. This means that Microsoft (or whatever company) stops taking care of it, being at the mercy of users. At the time a failure or vulnerability is discovered, Microsoft will not launch an update as it had done so far, but this fault will remain in the product or operating system indefinitely.
This new 2020 is going to be an operating system full of products that reach their end of support phase. Next, let’s see them all.
Microsoft operating systems that cease their support in 2020
Without doubt, the most controversial operating system that ceases its paths this year is Windows 7 . This operating system still has a 20% market share, which means that 1 in 5 computer users will be exposed to the lowest vulnerability discovered for this operating system.
However, Windows 7 will not be the only operating system that will run out of support this year. The server version of Windows, Server 2008 (and 2008 R2), also reaches its EoL phase this year, and we remember that servers are much more critical and exposed infrastructure than a normal computer, so the dangers soar.
In addition, there are several versions of Windows 10 that will also stop being supported this year. Among them, highlight version 1809 ( October 2018 Update ) and 1903 ( May 2019 Update ). It is also true that two new operating system updates (version 2004 and 20H2) should arrive this year, so we should not have problems to continue using Windows 10 safely.
- Windows 7: January 14, 2020
- Server 2008: January 14, 2020
- Windows 10 1809: May 12, 2020
- Windows 10 1903: December 8, 2020
Other popular services that remain unsupported in 2020
In addition to the previous operating systems, there are many other products that will cease to have support and updates throughout this year.
For example, if we are still using Office 2010 , we must bear in mind that it will cease to have support as of October 13, 2020. Along with it, other products such as SharePoint Server 2010, Project Server 2010 and Windows also end their life cycle. Embedded Standard 7.
Other Microsoft services that are no longer supported are:
- Hyper-V Server 2008 (January 14, 2020).
- Expression 3 (January 14, 2020).
- Internet Explorer 10 (January 31, 2020).
- Azure Container Service (January 31, 2020).
- Windows Analytics (January 31, 2020).
- Windows 10, version 1709 (Enterprise, Education, IoT Enterprise editions) (April 14, 2020).
- Windows Server version 1809 (April 14, 2020).
- Visual Studio 2010 (July 14, 2020).
- System Center Service Manager 2010 (September 8, 2020).
- System Center Data Protection Manager 2010 (October 13, 2020).
- Office 2016 for Mac (October 13, 2020).
- Windows 10, version 1803 (Enterprise, Education, IoT Enterprise) (November 10, 2020).
- Windows Server, version 1903 (December 8, 2020).
In the following link we can see a complete list with all the products that end their support this year.
Extended Security Update (ESU) will allow you to continue receiving updates for 3 more years
Of all these products that are no longer supported this year, there are some products that have become part of the ESU program, Extended Security Update , or extended security updates. This means that, for 3 years, more, paying users can continue to receive security updates.
The products that become part of this program are:
- Windows 7
- Windows 7 Professional for Embedded Systems
- SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2
- Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2
- Windows Embedded Standard 7
Products that go to Extended Security in 2020 and will receive free updates for 5 more years
Finally, in 2020 there will also be many Microsoft products that will move to a new phase of their life. Since its launch, until a number of years have passed (which varies by product), the company usually offers security updates, maintenance and even the implementation of new features.
However, after this initial support phase, the products enter a new stage known as ” extended support “. In it, which usually lasts at least 5 years, security updates are offered completely free, but not maintenance or new features.
This same year, the following products enter this support phase:
April 14, 2020:
- Cloud Platform System
On October 13, 2020:
- Exchange Server 2010
- Office 2016
- Skype for Business 2016.
- Visio 2016.
- Windows 10 Enterprise 2015 LTSB
- Windows Defender Antivirus for Windows 10 and Exploit Guard
Therefore, it is always important to keep all programs updated to their most recent versions. It is the best way to take full advantage of the possibilities of technology and, in addition, to be able to do so safely.
