The SharePoint Server 2010 deferment may not be Microsoft’s last. A large number of products are scheduled to fall off the support rolls this year and arguably need just as much extra time as SharePoint Server 2010 and Windows 10.
Office 2010 and its several suite SKUs (stock-keeping units); Office 2016 on the Mac; separate applications, like Word 2010 and Excel 2010; and associated on-premises servers, including Exchange Server 2010 – all are due to expire Oct. 13.
Windows 10 also has some impending 2020 dates, too. Windows 10 Enterprise 1803 and Windows 10 Education 1803 are currently scheduled to lose support Nov. 10, while all SKUs of Windows 10 1903, from Home to Enterprise, are to retire Dec. 8.
Awarding everything now sporting a 2020 retirement date with six more months would shift the burden into next year. Office 2010, for example, would not lose support until April 13, 2021. Windows 10 1803 and 1903 would receive updates until May 11, 2021 and June 8, 2021, respectively.
It’s unclear whether Microsoft will extend all deadlines. It has a slew of factors to consider, ranging from its estimate for the length of time businesses will have employees working from home to an obvious desire not to unduly postpone revenue-producing upgrades and shifts to subscriptions.
At the same time, customers will likely ask why they can’t have more time to migrate from, say, Exchange Server 2010, when others were given six more months to move off SharePoint Server 2010. And wonder, with cause, with the retirement deadlines of Windows 10 1809 and 1903 less than a month apart, why the latter doesn’t get the same extension already given to the former.
Microsoft may want to keep support extensions to a minimum because of the disruption they cause to the overall schedule, but that horse has left the barn. In truth, the calendar is already a shambles. For a short time metronomic, Windows 10’s cadence has sputtered instead, with support spans of 18 months and 24, 30 months and 36.
It seems reasonable that Microsoft will continue to add support time as the pandemic – and its impact on society and business both – continues.
Credit: Computer World
