For every product Microsoft release, they provide support within a limited lifecycle, within this Microsoft will continue to develop, advance, resolve issues and supply important security updates. Once a lifecycle ends, all of this support finishes as well, although this does not mean that the product becomes unusable, it can leave you vulnerable if an issue does arise and leaves you open to security attacks.

We continue to develop EXACT to operate on as many operating systems and function with the products our practices have installed, however, we are more than aware of how important it is to have fully supported products.

With this in mind, we wanted to raise your awareness of some of the products in Microsoft's range that are coming to the end of their support lifecycle in 2023. This list is not extensive, however, it is strongly linked to the products we're aware are out there installed in a number of our customer's practices.

Operating Systems

• Windows Server 2012 and Server 2012 R2
• Windows 8.1
• Operating systems and EXACT
• Microsoft Office, Word and Excel 2013

Windows Server 2012 and Server 2012 R2

Server 2012 and Server 2012 R2 are usually installed on your server computer, this could be in use somewhere throughout your practice or tucked away somewhere out of reach.

Server 2012 desktops will commonly look like the image below.

You can also check by clicking the Windows Start icon, and typing and selecting system information, the following window will display the operating system name at the top of the list.

Microsoft support for Server 2012 operating systems ends on 10^th October 2023, more information can be found on the Microsoft website for Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2.

Windows 8.1

These will more than likely be in use on one of your regular computers, the ones being used by the reception team, in surgery or in an office.

If you are using Windows 8.1, your start menu could look similar to that shown below.

You can also check by clicking the Windows Start icon, and typing and selecting system information, the following window will display the operating system name at the top of the list.

Microsoft ended support for this operating system on 10^th January 2023, more information can be found in Microsofts Products Ending Support in 2023 article.

Operating systems and EXACT

We will continue to test the functionality of EXACT with these operating systems, ensuring for as long as we can that EXACT works when installed.

We strongly advise you to discuss upgrading your operating systems with your hardware supplier as soon as possible. Helping to protect your practice by keeping your patient data secure with the latest updates and improvements.

You can view the latest supported operating systems in our system requirements article.

Microsoft Office, Word and Excel 2013

In addition to the above operating systems, Microsoft are bringing their support lifecycle to an end for the 2013 suite of Office programs, including Word 2013, Excel 2013, and Outlook 2013 on 11^th April 2023.