MS WORD SUPPORT ENDING

[micben]

When I go into Word recently I get a message telling me that Support is ending this October (2020) and they urge me to pay for an upgrade.

But I am also using Open Office which I prefer actually. However I still have a large number of files, spreadsheets and documents in Word. What happens to those when support ends? Can I still access them and continue to use the spreadsheets etc, or will they suddenly become inoperative? Would be glad to know that I don't have to transfer them all to Open Office, or pay for an upgrade which I won't be using!

 

[steaky360]

Fully agree with @Nursemorph all of your existing documents will still be accessible using the word product you currently have, there will just be no further updates to them.

End of support for Office 2010 - Microsoft Support

Support for Office 2010 ended on October 13, 2020. All of your Office 2010 apps will continue to function. However, you could expose yourself to serious and potentially harmful security risks. Upgrade to a newer version of Office.

support.microsoft.com

 

[micben]

Thanks guys, that confirms what I hoped would be the case. But ,MS says that you could expose yourself to serious and harmful security risks.
Is that just rhetoric I wonder.

 

[ubuysa]

Thanks guys, that confirms what I hoped would be the case. But ,MS says that you could expose yourself to serious and harmful security risks.
Is that just rhetoric I wonder.

It might not be if you use macros. Any vulnerabilities found in the way Word implements macros won't get fixed. The solution is of course to never use macros in Word docs.