_posts/2013-04-08-one_year_until_the_end.html (37 lines of code) (raw):
---
layout: post
status: PUBLISHED
published: true
title: One Year until the End of Life for Microsoft Office 2003
id: eb06e230-94f3-4c55-833a-52b7a908c870
date: '2013-04-08 15:36:49 -0400'
categories: ooo
tags: []
permalink: OOo/entry/one_year_until_the_end
---
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<p><a title="Josephine Smith digging a grave at the Drouin Cemetery, Victoria, [2] by National Library of Australia Commons, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/national_library_of_australia_commons/6174073756/"><img width="500" height="369" alt="Josephine Smith digging a grave at the Drouin Cemetery, Victoria, [2]" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6154/6174073756_5b8f664361.jpg" /></a></p>
<p><a title="Josephine Smith digging a grave at the Drouin Cemetery, Victoria, [2] by National Library of Australia Commons, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/national_library_of_australia_commons/6174073756/"> </p>
<p></a> </p>
<div align="left"><a title="Josephine Smith digging a grave at the Drouin Cemetery, Victoria, [2] by National Library of Australia Commons, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/national_library_of_australia_commons/6174073756/"> </p>
<p></a> </p>
<h2 id="the-april-2014-deadline">The April 2014 deadline</h2>
<p>Microsoft has <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/endofsupport.aspx">announced</a><br />
that they will end support of Office 2003 and Windows XP on April<br />
8th, 2014. What does this mean? As they describe,<br />
"After April 8, 2014, there will be no new security updates,<br />
non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support options or online<br />
technical content updates." This,<br />
according to Microsoft, exposes Office 2003 users to greater "Security<br />
& Compliance Risks".</p>
<h2 id="exploring-the-alternatives">Time to explore the alternatives</h2>
<p>Some companies and users will write a big check to Microsoft for an upgraded license for Office. But<br />
others will see this as an opportunity<br />
to explore the alternatives, including open source products like <a href="http://www.openoffice.org/">Apache<br />
OpenOffice</a>, the leading free productivity suite, with over 44 million downloads. Now is a good time to start planning for a migration off<br />
of Microsoft Office 2003 and Windows XP. Many companies have already<br />
started.</p>
<p>Apache OpenOffice is available on Windows, MacOS and Linux. It is open source software, which means there are no license or subscription fees required to use or redistribute OpenOffice. </p>
<p>You can learn more about Apache OpenOffice at <a href="http://www.openoffice.org">www.openoffice.org</a>. Many companies offer migration services for Apache OpenOffice, some of which are listed on our <a href="http://www.openoffice.org/bizdev/consultants.html">consultants page</a>.</p>
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</p></div>