Windows 10 guarantees support for the operating system for the next ten years, but with some limitations. Here’s what you need to know
Everything has a beginning and everything has an end, even in the world of computing where, in recent days, there has been an important end: that of Microsoft’s official support for the Windows 7 operating system, which took place on January 14, 2020. This operating system, in fact, was put on sale for the first time in October 2009 and the official support has exceeded ten years.
Windows 10, born in July 2015, will also one day be overtaken by a successor. But Microsoft’s official support for this operating system won’t end anytime soon: it will still last until at least 2025. Questo perché la politica di Microsoft per il supporto ai sistemi operativi prevede una formula 5+5: i primi cinque anni sono di supporto standard, che Microsoft chiama “Mainstream“, i successivi sono di supporto “Extended“. A queste due formule si aggiunge il cosiddetto “Unified Support” per le aziende, che Microsoft offre a pagamento. Anche durante il supporto “extended” alcune richieste di assistenza dell’utente potrebbero comportare un pagamento, quindi per capire realmente quando finirà il supporto ufficiale a Windows 10 dobbiamo prima spiegare le differenze tra supporto “Mainstream” ed “Extended“.
Supporto Microsoft Mainstream ed Extended: le differenze
Per i primi cinque anni di vita di un sistema operativo sono definiti da Microsoft “Mainstream” e comprendono:
- Richiesta di modificare la progettazione e le funzionalità del prodotto
- Aggiornamenti della sicurezza
- Aggiornamenti non relativi alla sicurezza
- Supporto “Self-help”
- Supporto a pagamento
Durante questo periodo le richieste di assistenza sono gratuite nella maggior parte dei casi e Microsoft rilascia mensilmente gli aggiornamenti di sicurezza, oltre a due grandi update semestrali.
I successivi cinque anni di vita del sistema operativo sono coperti dal supporto “Extended“, che comprende più o meno le stesse cose del Mainstream tranne la richiesta di modificare le funzionalità del prodotto e gli aggiornamenti non relativi alla sicurezza (che sono coperti però dall’eventuale Unified Support).
All this, then, is governed by the so-called “Modern Lifecycle Policy” that requires Microsoft to release monthly and semi-annual updates and the user to install them.
Microsoft Support on Updates
Each new semi-annual update released by Microsoft is covered by 18 months of support, starting from the date the update is published. As a result, to give an example, the 1909 update of Windows 10 (the so-called “November Update” of 2019) is covered by Microsoft support until May 2021 (for the Home version of Windows, the Enterprise and Education versions have longer support). On the other hand, those who still have Windows 10 version 1903 (i.e. the 2019 “May Update”) enjoy official support until December 2020. By December 2020, however, Microsoft will have released at least two more semi-annual updates with another 18 months of support for each. By May 2021, it will have released three. In this way, then, keeping your operating system constantly updated is also the most effective way to keep Microsoft’s extended support active.