Microsoft has announced changes to Windows 10 support in the light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Microsoft has said that its "top priority" is the health and safety of employees, customers, partners and communities alike. To ease one customer burden during this public health emergency, Microsoft has confirmed it is extending security support for Windows 10, version 1709, until October 13, 2020.

"To ease one of the many burdens you are currently facing, and based on customer feedback, we have decided to delay the scheduled end of service date for the Enterprise, Education, and IoT Enterprise editions of Windows 10, version 1709. This means devices will receive monthly security updates only from May to October. The final security update for these editions of Windows 10, version 1709 will be released on October 13, 2020 instead of April 14, 2020," Microsoft said.

Security updates for Windows 10, version 1709 will be available via Microsoft's regular servicing channels: Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services, and the Microsoft Update Catalog. You will not need to alter your current update management workflows. For example, all supported versions of Microsoft Configuration Manager (current branch) will continue to support Windows 10, version 1709 until October 13, 2020.

Microsoft has also confirmed it has no current plans to delay the end of service date of May 12, 2020, for Windows 10 Pro, version 1809. Many small and medium-sized businesses use this particular Windows version and will likely face the same lack of security updates problem as the coronavirus disruption continues.

Microsoft encourages IT teams to consider shifting to Windows Update for Business, which allows users to take both feature updates and quality updates directly from Microsoft in a secure and often faster manner.

For a comprehensive list of end-of-service dates for all versions and editions of the Windows client and Windows Server operating systems, bookmark the Windows lifecycle fact sheet or utilize the Microsoft Lifecycle Policy search tool to find lifecycle information for all commercial Microsoft products.