Commercial customers running older versions of Outlook have two months to upgrade before losing access to the company's Microsoft 365 and Office 365 services. Credit: RayalHristova / Getty Images / Microsoft Microsoft has reminded commercial customers using older versions of Outlook that they have just two months to upgrade before they’re cut off from the company’s Microsoft 365 and Office 365 services. “After November 1, 2021, only Outlook 2013 Service Pack 1 (with latest fixes) and later will be able to connect to Microsoft 365 services,” the firm said in an unsigned Aug. 27 post to a company blog. Last year, Microsoft dropped support for older versions of Office connecting to its online services, such as Exchange Online, as of Oct. 13, 2020. Affected editions of Office included Office 2007, which was already out of all support; Office 2010, which was to exit support on that same Oct. 13 date; and Office 2013, which was to receive support until April 2023. The support-on-services shutdown had been in the works since 2017. At the time, Microsoft had been surprisingly gracious, saying that while support would officially end, that didn’t necessarily mean the end of connectivity. “We won’t take any active measures to block other versions of the Office client, such as Office 2013, from connecting to Office 365 services, but these older clients may encounter performance or reliability issues over time,” the developer said then. That is what’s different now. The Nov. 1 deadline really will cut older Outlook clients from Microsoft’s services. Microsoft explained that the older Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010 clients will be incompatible with two upcoming changes to services, including an end to support for Basic Authentication — essentially, the long-standard username + password combination — that was postponed in February 2021. Microsoft did not say when it would drop Basic Auth support, however. For those who haven’t yet dispensed with the old Outlook clients, Microsoft recommended — as it has confidently — that they switch to the subscription model of Office 365 or Microsoft 365, which provides always-up-to-date client software. Related content feature Windows 11 Insider Previews: What’s in the latest build? Get the latest info on new preview builds of Windows 11 as they roll out to Windows Insiders. Now updated for Build 22635.3566 for the Beta Channel, released on April 26, 2024. By Preston Gralla Apr 26, 2024 251 mins Small and Medium Business Microsoft Windows 11 news Dropbox adds end-to-end encryption for team folders Dropbox this week unveiled a range of features, including security updates and key management, and the ability to co-edit Microsoft 365 documents from within the file-sharing app. By Matthew Finnegan Apr 26, 2024 3 mins Cloud Storage Collaboration Software Productivity Software feature Android versions: A living history from 1.0 to 15 Explore Android's ongoing evolution with this visual timeline of versions, starting B.C. (Before Cupcake) and going all the way to 2024's Android 15 (beta) release. By JR Raphael Apr 26, 2024 23 mins Small and Medium Business Smartphones Android news analysis The unspoken obnoxiousness of Google's Gemini improvements Google's Gemini chatbot is seeing all sorts of upgrades on Android this week, but those advancements reveal a darker underlying reality. By JR Raphael Apr 26, 2024 12 mins Google Assistant Google Android Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe