14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has recently announced that Office 365 apps would no longer run on macOS 10.13 High Sierra as of November 10, as the company is switching the focus to newer operating systems.
Needless to say, the change doesn’t come as a big surprise, as dropping support for old OS versions is something that happens on all platforms.
Microsoft says that Microsoft 365 for Mac and Office 2019 for Mac would no longer receive updates on an Apple computer unless it runs macOS 10.14 Mojave or a newer version.
“As of the November 2020 (build 16.43) update for Microsoft 365 for Mac or Office 2019 for Mac, macOS 10.14 Mojave or later is required to receive updates to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote. If you continue with an older version of macOS, your Office apps will still work, but you'll no longer receive any updates including security updates,” Microsoft explains.
“Upgrading your operating system to macOS 10.14 or later will allow Office updates to be delivered for your apps. Note that new installs of Microsoft 365 for Mac or Office 2019 for Mac will also require macOS 10.14 or later.”
Updating macOS, the best way to go
Needless to say, if you continue to run Microsoft Office app on macOS 10.13 or older, everything is supposed to work just like before, only that no other improvements are released. Not to mention that doing this comes with major security risks, as the vulnerabilities found in the productivity suite would no longer be fixed, leaving your device and data exposed to possible attacks.
“As new major versions of macOS are released and older versions become unsupported, we highly recommend you continue to update your macOS to a supported version in order to receive mainstream support such as security updates as well as new features (if you’re an Microsoft 365 for Mac subscriber). This applies for both Microsoft 365 for Mac and Office 2019 for Mac users,” the company explains.
Of course, the best way to go right now is to update to a newer version of macOS if your device supports it.