Would it be okay to still use Office 2010 now?

Hello! I just want to have some advice please on whether you think running Office 2010 is still okay now.
I don't want to have Office 365 as I don't want to be paying a subscription every month or year for software that I don't use enough for it to be worth the money. I also don't feel like it's worth upgrading to Office 2021 or the likes as it's expensive and goes EOL anyway in October 2026 (only 5 years...)

I have considered using Open Office or Libre Office, I just haven't used them much yet and really should have a proper look at them one day if I decide Office 2010 isn't worth the risk anymore.

I currently have installed Office 2013, I got a licence for it with a previous PC and forgot about it until a while ago. It's okay but I perfer Office 2010. Just seems slower and the UI isn't very pleasing to me.

Okay sorry for the ramble, as I said above I'm just looking to see how much of a risk it really would be to run Office 2010 now. I still have Office 2003 and Windows XP on another computer of mine and although it doesn't get used much it's been okay ever since EOL.
I'm just a little worried with how everyone makes it sound when software goes EOL. I think I'll be fine but I'm just doubting myself a bit.

I have the Home and Business edition of 2010 and I do use all the programs, (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook). Outlook I think is the main troublesome one there.

I am running Windows 10 Pro, 21H2 if that helps at all :)

Thank you everyone!

James said:

There is no risk of running an old version of Office like there is with an operating system.

A more detailed look at running an old version of office.

If you are going for a free program it'd be Libre office or OpenOffice for me.

Great, thank you so much!
Yes I did think it would be okay (or at least better) with it only being a program and I have much older software and operating systems which are still going fine too. Just have to be more careful with them.

Okay I'll take a look at them both. It's been a while since I've used OpenOffice but I'd imagine it's much the same still. Same with Libre Office, although I've only ever briefly used it.

Thank you again!

Try3 said:

There is a risk but it is impossible to quantify it.
When researchers find vulnerabilities in currently-supported version of Office [or Windows or other things], MS issues an update that patches the hole.
Your holes will not get patched. Neither will mine, I still use Office 2007.
A hole in Office is not as risky as a hole in Windows because any malware would first have to get through Windows' defences before it could attack Office.
Many people are using Office 2010 so keep an eye on that forum section to see if those users start screaming about malware.



Since, like me, you use MS Office Outlook, you won't find complete non-MS substitutes.
Thunderbird is almost but not quite an Outlook substitute.
All the commonly suggested alternatives are perfectly acceptable substitutes for Word, Excel, PowerPoint. I've never considered OneNote substitutes because I never use it.



I suggest you never connect your XP computer to the internet. Malware can get through XP like a knife through butter.


All the best,
Denis

That's great thank you.
Yes that's what I thought. There's definitely an increased risk. The problem is all of the news articles, and most people just immediately saying no way, you must have the latest version or you will be at risk etc.
I'm fine with that. I know it won't be patched anymore. Ah that makes me feel better that I'm not just 'the odd one out' using an older version of Office. I have a copy of Office 2007 around.

Okay, that makes sense. I'll keep an eye on the forums then. Hopefully nothing too nasty comes along but if people start screaming then yeah I'll see what to do as and when that happens.

This has been one of my main problems for years, finding a substitute for MS Outlook. I've tried a few different ones such as Thunderbird which worked fine for my personal E-Mail addresses but MS Exchange wasn't playing along in anything but Outlook.
But yes I'm happy enough to substitute Word, PowerPoint, Excel and the likes as long as it does what I need which I'm sure they would.
OneNote I very rarely use. I could live without it, I have used it a couple of times and it's nice to have everything sync over from one device to another. But not needed at all.

Oh yes you're right about XP being on the internet there... I only ever connect it if and when I need a connection, but not very often now luckily. It's mostly there for use with older software and hardware that I have that just can't work with anything above XP.

Thank you so much for the response too. I think tonight will be me reinstalling Office 2010 again!

- - - Updated - - -

cereberus said:

It all really comes down to your usage - if it is for mostly personal stuff, 2010 is fine, and is mostly compatible with 2019 (say 98+ % - bit of a guess)

However, for business use, 100% compatibility is critical for some users - I pass a lot of files back and forth with multiple clients in joint ventures, and so to me, keeping up to date is critical, so keeping Office up to date is crucial for me (I use 365 as a consequence).

Of course, older versions do have a slightly higher security risk, but if you are careful, and only use Office now and then, risk is low BUT NOT zero. To this end, making regular image and data backups to an external drive is strongly recommended, detaching external drive once backed up.

Although there are free alternatives, I would prefer to use an older version of Office as my experiences with the alternatives has not lived up to expectations (macros being main contention) but that is me.

Everybody is different, so no right or wrong answer.

Ah thank you! For the most part yes it's for personal stuff. That's not bad really. I think worst case I can always install OpenOffice or Libre Office or even use Office Online if I can't open a document for whatever reason.

I do use it for business use but not often anymore. Unless I had to work at home again, it's only the occasional thing I need to open from home.
Oh yes that's fair. If you need the 100% compatibility then yeah 365 really would be the best option.
I don't want to seem like I can't use different software because I can't handle the change, I can use Office 365 just fine and I do outside of home. I just don't feel like it's worth it for my needs to purchase Office again unless I absolutely needed to.

Yeah that's fair. I'm careful anyway but I'll just have to be extra careful now. That's what I've been up to, I make an image of both of my drives every Saturday to an external HDD, just in case. Hoping to never need it though! :)

Yes there are the free alternatives, I haven't used much of them in a while and MS Outlook is the main issue with there not really being a proper alternative that works for me. It's different for everyone but I understand that with the macros...

Thanks as well, I was just really seeing what everyone thought. Most places online will tell you to upgrade immediately and it's just nice having a proper opinion without the first thing being no, it's EOL. Full stop.
:)

Try3 said:

And you'll have one advantage over me.

If you ever put in passwords for opening Office 2010 files, yours are much less likely to get hacked than mine.
- Office 2010 passwords are handled by a module that has deliberately been made so slow that any decent password would require forever & a day to decrypt by guessing [i.e. "brute force" or "dictionary" attack].
- Office XP passwords, by contrast, would probably be hacked in less time than it is taking me to type this sentence.

If you ever need to read files written or edited by somebody using a later Office version you might find problems with graphical elements or Excel functions***. The formats are the same but later versions have enhanced capabilities that Office 2010 would not recognise. I've only ever found those examples [graphical elements or Excel functions].
*** =SUM(A1:B3), for example, is an Excel function [a simple one that would not be a problem]. Later Excel versions have additional functions that we don't have.

I spent a year using Office 2016 & I hated it. I wouldn't spend a penny on it or any of the current versions.

All the best,
Denis

Oh yes I do sometimes password protect my files. I forgot how easy it used to be to get into password protected files...
Yeah I can imagine that. It is nice having the security improvements over the years. And Windows 9x with its amazing security prompt, just press cancel!

Oh I haven't used Office XP in a while but I still have its install discs around. I always quite liked that version but it was a little strange with its naming, sometimes Office XP, sometimes 2002.

Ah okay, thanks for letting me know! I don't get sent Excel spreadsheets too often but I'll keep it in mind. Might be okay in Office Online.
Yes that makes sense and fair enough. After all we're now on Office 2021 and 365 with a 10 year difference. Still... annoying that that'll probably happen more as our software ages.

A whole year using 2016... That's quite impressive. I've spent a few months using Office 2013 and don't like it. I've used 365 also and don't like that even more. I think I've used 2016 down the line but never owned it and haven't used 2019 or 2021 yet. But don't plan on doing so because I also wouldn't spend a penny on the new versions. I'd probably use some other software before that.

Thank you again :)

- - - Updated - - -

A bit of an update from me.
Office 2010 Home and Business is back installed on my computer! Updated to SP2 and all updates applied now.
Just been setting everything up back how I like it and signing into Outlook again but nearly all of my settings have saved anyway from my previous installation a few months back. The installation went very smoothly too and removing Office 2013 wasn't too much of a hassle either luckily.

I've attached a screenshot of Word looking all good again!

Thank you to everyone for the help, it's very appreciated! :)