OIT to retire Microsoft Office 2013 and Windows 7
If you have a copy of Windows 7 or Microsoft Office 2013 on a university-owned computer, you can expect to hear from OIT during May about upgrading to a supported version.
This upgrade is necessary for several reasons. Most importantly, Windows 7 and Office 2013 are no longer receiving updates from Microsoft. Faculty and staff often have access to protected student data through their university computers. Running an unsupported operating system or version of Office increases the risk of cyberattacks. Upgrading ensures that your computer receives security updates and that it is compatible with multi-factor authentication. More recent versions of Windows and Office also are better suited to the kind of online collaboration that is becoming increasingly common in higher education. Office 365 and Windows 10 work well with OneDrive and offer the ability to track multiple editors' changes in real time.
Given the fast pace of change in the software industry and in higher education, we need to match the university’s upgrade cycle to our vendors’ product lifecycle. For Office, this means only using versions that receive Mainstream Support from Microsoft. Currently, this includes Office 365 and Office 2016. On the operating side, this means Windows 10.
What you need to do
Keep an eye on your inbox and your computer’s desktop. If your copy of Office needs to be upgraded, we will send you an email reminder. If your copy of Windows needs to be updated, your computer will pop up an upgrade notice page.
You will be able to perform the required Office upgrade yourself with a one-click installer in your computer's Software Center (PC) or Managed Software Center (Mac), or you can schedule an appointment to have a technician complete the upgrade for you. If you also need to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10, that upgrade is best done by an IT technician.
To learn more, visit OIT's Office 365 web page. If you have any questions, please contact the IT Service Desk.