Office for Mac Support Extension

Microsoft's decision to launch the next edition of Office for the Mac in the second half of 2015 will likely result in the company extending support for the four-year-old Office for Mac 2011.                            

On Friday, Microsoft revealed a very general timetable for the next Office for Mac, saying it would offer a public beta in the first half of next year, followed by a final release in the second half.

That will put customers using the current Office for Mac 2011 in a pinch, as support for that edition is to cease in less than 14 months, perhaps within weeks of the debut of its replacement. According to the support schedule now on Microsoft's books, the firm will deliver the last security updates -- patches for vulnerabilities in the Office applications -- on Jan. 12, 2016.

A several-month-long migration window won't be sufficient for companies that have adopted Office for the Mac, whether they've acquired the suite through the subscription-based Office 365 or by purchasing perpetual licenses.

Rather than put customers between the rock of a soon-to-be-retired Office and the hard place of vulnerable applications, Microsoft will probably do what it did in 2009: Extend support.