With the “Release Channel”, you can control when and how often you’ll receive new features and updates. You need to stay up-to-date within your so-called “Release Channel”.You need to have an active Microsoft 365 subscription.You only really need to be aware of 2 things Microsoft continues to support and update Microsoft 365 and it will always include the latest version of Office.

When you use Microsoft 365, you don’t have to worry about any support dates.

However, once a product has reached its Mainstream Support end date, it is generally recommended to start planning to upgrade to a newer version.

During Extended support, to request non-security updates, you’ll need to purchase Unified Support.Īs an end-user, you’ll hardly realize the difference between the two as updates will still be provided until the Extended Support date has been reached.

Non-security updates may still be included in special circumstances or when specifically requested (see next point).

During Extended support, updates mainly focus on security updates.

During Mainstream support, updates can include bug fixes, feature changes and security fixes.

The main differences between Mainstream and Extended support are as follows Microsoft 365 has a separate lifecycle which is explained at the end of this guide but in short This version is always supported. The support end dates are divided between “Mainstream” and “Extended”, for which you’ll find an explanation below the Support End Dates table.

With so many newer versions of Outlook, is Microsoft still committed to support my Outlook 2013 version or is it time for me to move on?Įven though newer versions of Outlook and Office came out, Microsoft continues to support the older versions as well for quite some additional years. Then there is also Microsoft 365 which apparently is always the latest version of Office. I know that since then Outlook 2016 has come out and Outlook 2021 is the latest version that is available. I’ve been using Outlook 2013 since it came out and I’m still quite happy with it.

Office 2013 outlook