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Microsoft Adds 6 Months to Windows 10 Version 1511 Support

Users of the Enterprise and Education editions of Windows 10 version 1511 just got a six-month support reprieve, Microsoft said on Tuesday.

The new end-of-support date for users of those Windows 10 editions will be April 2018, according to an announcement by Michael Niehaus, director of product marketing for Windows at Microsoft.

Microsoft decided to extend its support after finding that organizations are still getting used to its "Windows as a Service" approach, where new operating system updates (called "channels") arrive at a faster rate. Here's how the company characterized that extended support, which gets enabled via "a supplemental servicing package":

To help some early enterprise adopters that are still finishing their transition to Windows as a service, we will be providing a supplemental servicing package for Windows 10, version 1511 for an additional six months, until April 2018, providing updates to address critical and important security issues that arise during that time. These updates will be available to anyone using Windows 10 Enterprise, version 1511 or Windows 10 Education, version 1511. Updates will be offered via all normal channels, including Windows Update, WSUS, Configuration Manager, and the Windows Update catalog.

Microsoft had indicated in a July support notice that Windows 10 version 1511 would get support through Oct. 10, 2017, meaning that organizations or individuals that continued to use it weren't entitled to get further updates from Microsoft, including security patches.

That warning is now superseded by the new April 2018 end-of-support date for Windows 10 version 1511 for users of the Enterprise and Education editions. Users of the Home and Pro editions of Windows 10 version 1511 presumably are out of luck and have already lost patch support from Microsoft.

Microsoft recently stabilized its Windows as a service update approach where each "channel" release of Windows 10 is supported for 18 months before organizations or individuals are expected to jump to a newer one. The end-of-support dates for major Windows 10 channel releases are listed at this lifecycle fact page, in a table.

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

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