The Manx government insists an upgrade to its IT operating system is progressing well - but says a full switch-over to Windows 11 is not expected to be completed until October next year.
Two thirds of its estate is still running on Windows 10 which reached the end of its support on October 14 this year.
Technical assistance, feature updates and security updates are no longer provided for free after Microsoft pulled the plug.
But the Manx government says there is no risk to services or data.
It had confirmed it is paying just under £240,000 for extended support allowing IT equipment to continue to receive security updates until they are upgraded to Windows 11.
Ongoing work to maintain, update and maintain core IT services is being carried out by Government Transformation Services.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: ‘While it is true that mainstream support for Windows 10 ended on October 14, it is incorrect to say that we are no longer receiving security updates.
‘Large organisations, such as the Isle of Man Government, can extend support through to October 2028 by enrolling in the Extended Security Updates (ESU) for Windows 10.
‘Consequently, all Windows 10 devices within our estate will continue to receive security updates directly from Microsoft until the end of this agreement.
‘By leveraging Extended Security Updates (ESU), we can effectively mitigate any risks associated with remaining on Windows 10 throughout our migration process. This ensures that government-held personal data remains secure during the transition.’
She added: ‘Our upgrade to Windows 11 is progressing well.
‘Currently, 32% of our estate is using Windows 11, with the remainder on Windows 10. We expect to complete the deployment by October next year.
‘The transition is well planned to ensure that the government's line-of-business applications are compatible with the latest operating system and that staff are adequately trained on the new systems.
‘All risks, including those related to information security, have been considered and are being addressed.’
Manx Care is one area that had not been upgraded to Windows 11.
The Cabinet Office spokesperson said: ‘Manx Care, in particular, has a number of complex integrated software solutions that take time to upgrade, test, and ensure they function properly on the latest operating systems.
‘This is critical to ensure there is no risk to the services and patients or service users that they support.
‘Work is underway within Manx Care to complete this testing prior to a full deployment of Windows 11. The deployment of ESU ensures that the base systems remain supported and fully secure while Manx Care carries out this work.’
The total cost for extended support is £239,800, the spokesperson confirmed. She explained that this figure is based on the standard Microsoft licence fee applicable to all organisations that use Extended Security Updates.
Work is also underway to migrate emails from Office to Microsoft 365 but this is unrelated to the Windows upgrade.