What is an Operating System?
An operating system is a software that communicates with computer hardware and other software programs. All computers, tablets, and smartphones have an operating system.
Why is it important to run an up-to-date Operating System?
Computers are constantly under attack by malicious actors such as hackers, viruses or malicious software. Running an out-of-date operating system poses a serious threat to CSUN because it gives malicious actors an opportunity to exploit the vulnerabilities (weakness) in an unpatched operating system. An out-of-date operating system may also prevent legitimate software such as Antivirus from working properly. With the constant threat of computer attacks, the first line of defense is to run an up-to-date operating system.
To fix bugs or vulnerabilities in an operating system, vendors release fixes in the form of system updates and/or patches. The fixes include necessary changes to keep a system secure and to allow for safe operations.
How to check if your operating system is up-to-date and running the latest version?
Please refer to your operating system vendor documentation, vendor website, or visit the IT Help Center.
What should I do if my operating system isn't on the maintained list?
First, you should check with your vendor or support community to see if your operating system is supported. If they continue to release patches, that means your operating system is still supported by the vendor. Make sure your computer has the latest updates installed. If your operating system is unsupported, you should upgrade to a newer supported operating system. Contact the IT Help Center if your operating system is not on the Operating System Maintained List.
Computers running unsupported operating systems will be removed and blocked from CSUN network until it has been upgraded or replaced. The Information Security Office provides a list of supported operating systems and its end of support date.
What about mobile devices?
Just like computers, mobile devices such as phones and tablets should run supported operating systems. Unfortunately, it is much more difficult to upgrade the software on these devices due to hardware limitations or carrier/manufacturer customization. Often, the only way to upgrade to a current version of the operating system is to purchase a new device.
For Apple products, verify that you are using an Apple device that is running the most current iOS version. Upgrade all devices that can support the latest iOS version. You should discontinue using any device that cannot support the latest iOS version.
Android and Windows mobile devices have a list of current versions on their respective web pages. Update your devices if you do not have the latest available version installed. If your mobile device is no longer receiving updates from the vendor, then you should consider upgrading or purchase a new device that is supported by the vendor. In the event of major security updates for such a system, users may be advised to immediately discontinue use of any device that is not on the most current version.
Operating System Maintained List
Support Status | Description |
Active  | This platform is sustained by CSUN, all machines will include this platform otherwise requested. |
Unsupported | CSUN is working its way from this platform. Platforms go into this status prior to the CSUN end date. |
EOL | CSUN no longer supports this platform, any software support will be dropped from maintaining this platform. |
Microsoft Windows
*Note: The following operating systems are no longer supported:
Windows 10 (versions 2004, 1909, 1903, 1809, 1803, 1709, 1703, 1607, 1511, 1507) Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Microsoft ME, Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0, Microsoft Windows CE, Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 3.1
Windows Server: Windows Server 20H2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003
| Microsoft Windows | Operating System | Latest Update or Service Pack | CSUN Support Status | Vendor Release Date | End of CSUN Support | Latest Vendor EOL Date |
Enterprise and Education | ||||||
| Windows Desktop | Windows 11 | 22H2 | Active | 20-Sep-22 | 14-Oct-25 | 14-Oct-25 |
| Windows 11 | 21H2 | Active | 4-Oct-21 | 8-Oct-24 | 8-Oct-24 | |
| Windows 10 | 22H2 | Active | 18-Oct-22 | 13-May-25 | 13-May-25 | |
| Windows 10 | 21H2 | Active | 16-Nov-21 | 11-Jun-24 | 11-Jun-24 | |
Windows 10 | 21H1 | EOL | 18-May-21 | 13-Dec-22 | 13-Dec-22 | |
Windows 10 | 20H2 | EOL | 20-Oct-20 | 9-May-23 | 9-May-23 | |
| Windows 10 | 2004 | Unsupported | 27-May-20 | 14-Dec-21 | 14-Dec-21 | |
| Windows 10 | 1909 | EOL | 12-Nov-19 | 10-May-22 | 10-May-22 | |
| Windows 10 | 1903 | EOL | 21-May-19 | 8-Dec-20 | 8-Dec-20 | |
| Windows 10 | 1809 | EOL | 13-Nov-18 | 11-May-21 | 11-May-21 | |
| Windows 10 | 1803 | EOL | 30-Apr-18 | 11-May-21 | 11-May-21 | |
| Windows 10 | 1709 | EOL | 17-Oct-17 | 13-Oct-20 | 13-Oct-20 | |
| Windows 10 | 1703 | EOL | 11-Apr-17 | 8-Oct-19 | 8-Oct-19 | |
| Windows 10 | 1607 | EOL | 2-Aug-16 | 9-Apr-19 | 9-Apr-19 | |
| Windows 10 | 1511 | EOL | 10-Nov-15 | 10-Oct-17 | 10-Oct-17 | |
Home and Pro | ||||||
| Windows 11 | 22H2 | Active | 20-Sep-22 | 8-Oct-24 | 8-Oct-24 | |
| Windows 11 | 21H2 | EOL | 4-Oct-21 | 10-Oct-23 | 10-Oct-23 | |
| Windows 10 | 22H2 | EOL | 18-Oct-22 | 14-May-23 | 14-May-23 | |
| Windows 10 | 21H2 | EOL | 16-Nov-21 | 13-Jun-23 | 13-Jun-23 | |
| Windows 10 | 21H1 | EOL | 18-May-21 | 13-Dec-22 | 13-Dec-22 | |
| Windows 10 | 20H2 | EOL | 20-Oct-20 | 10-May-22 | 10-May-22 | |
| Windows 10 | 2004 | Unsupported | 27-May-20 | 14-Dec-21 | 14-Dec-21 | |
| Windows 10 | 1909 | EOL | 12-Nov-19 | 11-May-21 | 11-May-21 | |
| Windows 10 | 1903 | EOL | 21-May-19 | 8-Dec-20 | 8-Dec-20 | |
| Windows 10 | 1809 | EOL | 13-Nov-18 | 10-Nov-20 | 10-Nov-20 | |
| Windows 10 | 1803 | EOL | 30-Apr-18 | 12-Nov-19 | 12-Nov-19 | |
| Windows 10 | 1709 | EOL | 17-Oct-17 | 9-Apr-19 | 9-Apr-19 | |
| Windows 10 | 1703 | EOL | 11-Apr-17 | 9-Oct-18 | 9-Oct-18 | |
| Windows 10 | 1607 | EOL | 2-Aug-16 | 10-Apr-18 | 10-Apr-18 | |
| Windows 10 | 1511 | EOL | 10-Nov-15 | 10-Oct-17 | 10-Oct-17 | |
All Windows Editions | ||||||
| Windows 8 | 8.1 | EOL | 25-Nov-13 | 10-Jul-18 | 10-Jul-18 | |
| Windows 8 | 8 | EOL | 26-Oct-12 | 26-Oct-12 | 12-Jan-16 | |
| Windows 7 | SP1 | EOL | 22-Feb-11 | 14-Jan-20 | 14-Jan-20 | |
| Windows Server | Windows Server 2022 | 2022 | Active | 18-Aug-21 | 13-Oct-26 | 13-Oct-26 |
| Windows Server 20H2 | 20H2 | EOL | 20-Oct-20 | 16-Aug-22 | Not Applicable | |
| Windows Server 2019 | 2019 | Active | 13-Nov-18 | 9-Jan-24 | 9-Jan-24 | |
| Windows Server 2016 | 2016 | EOL | 12-Oct-16 | 11-Jan-22 | 11-Jan-22 | |
| Windows server 2012 R2 | 2012 R2 | EOL | 18-Oct-13 | 10-Oct-23 | 10-Oct-23 | |
| MS DOS | Any Version | EOL | ||||
Apple MAC OS
| Apple MAC OS | Operating System | Latest Update or Service Pack | CSUN Support Status | Vendor Release Date | End of CSUN Support | Latest Vendor EOL Date |
| macOS Ventura | 13.5 | Active | 24-Oct-22 | Nov 2025** | Nov 2025** | |
| macOS Monterey | 12.6 | Active | 25-Oct-21 | Nov 2024** | Nov 2024** | |
| macOS Big Sur | 11.7 | Active | Nov 2020 | Nov 2023** | Nov 2023** | |
| macOS Catalina | 10.15 | EOL | 7-Oct-19 | Nov 2022** | Nov 2022** | |
| macOS Mojave | 10.14 | EOL | 24-Sep-18 | Nov 2021** | Nov 2021** | |
| macOS High Sierra | 10.13 | EOL | 25-Sep-17 | Nov 2020** | Nov 2020** | |
| macOS Sierra | 10.12 | EOL | 20-Sep-16 | Nov 2019** | Nov 2019** | |
| OS X El Capitan | 10.11-10.11.6 | EOL | 30-Sep-15 | Sep 2018** | Sep 2018** | |
| macOS 9 | OS 9 | EOL | 23-Oct-99** | *See Note | *See note | |
| macOS 8 and below | OS 8 | EOL | 26-Jul-97** | *See Note | *See Note |
*Apple does not release their End of Lifecycle dates, but provide security updates for the current release of mac OS along with the previous two releases. **Release dates are not from official Apple website.
Red Hat Enterprise
| Red Hat Enterprise | Operating System | Latest Update or Service Pack | CSUN Support Status | Vendor release Date | End of CSUN Support | Latest Vendor EOL Date |
| Red Hat 9 | Linux 9 | Active | 17-May-22 | 31-May-32 | 31-May-32 | |
| Red Hat 8 | Linux 8 | Active | 7-May-2019 | 31-May-29 | 31-May-29 | |
| Red Hat Enterprise 7.1 | Linux 7 | Active | 6-Aug-19 | 30-Jun-24 | 30-Jun-24 | |
| Red Hat 6 | Linux 6 | EOL | 6-Jun-18 | 30-Nov-20 | 30-Nov-20 | |
| Red Hat 5 | Linux 5 | EOL | 16-Sep-16 | 30-Nov-20 | 30-Nov-20 | |
| Red hat 4 and below | Linux 4 | EOL | 16-Feb-11 | 29-Feb-12 | 29-Feb-12 |
CentOS
| CentOS | Operating System | Latest Update or Service Pack | CSUN Support Status | Vendor Release Date | End of CSUN Support | Latest Vendor EOL Date |
| CentOS Stream 9 | 9 | Active | 15-Sep-21 | 31-May-27 | 31-May-27 | |
| CentOS Stream 8 | 8 | Active | 24-Sep-19 | 31-May-24 | 31-May-24 | |
| CentOS Linux 8 | 8 | Unsupported | 24-Sep-19 | 31-Dec-21 | 31-Dec-21 | |
| CentOS Linux 7 | 7 | Active | 7-Jul-14 | 30-Jun-24 | 30-Jun-24 | |
| CentOS 6 | 6 and below | EOL | 10-Jul-11 | 30-Nov-20 | 30-Nov-20 |
Fedora
| Fedora | Operating System | Latest Update or Service Pack | CSUN Support Status | Vendor Release Date | End of CSUN Support | Latest Vendor EOL Date |
| Fedora 38 | 38 | Active | 18-Apr-23 | 18-May-24 | 18-May-24 | |
| Fedora 37 | 37 | Active | 15-Nov-22 | 15-Dec-23 | 15-Dec-23 | |
| Fedora 36 | 36 | EOL | 10-May-22 | 16-May-23 | 16-May-23 | |
| Fedora 35 | 35 | EOL | 1-Nov-21 | 7-Dec-22 | 7-Dec-22 | |
| Fedora 34 | 34 | EOL | 27-Apr-21 | 17-May-22 | 17-May-22 | |
| Fedora 33 | 33 | EOL | 27-Oct-20 | 30-Nov-21 | 30-Nov-21 | |
| Fedora 32 | 32 | EOL | 4-Apr-20 | 25-May-21 | 25-May-21 | |
| Fedora 31 | 31 | EOL | 29-Oct-19 | 24-Nov-20 | 24-Nov-20 | |
| Fedora 30 | 30 | EOL | 30-Apr-19 | 6-May-20 | 6-May-20 | |
| Fedora 29 | 29 | EOL | 30-Oct-18 | 30-Nov-19 | 30-Nov-19 | |
| Fedora 28 | 28 and below | EOL | 1-May-18 | 28-May-19 | 28-May-19 |
*Fedora has not released their End of Lifecycles dates.
Ubuntu
| Ubuntu | Operating System | Latest Update or Service Pack | CSUN Support Status | Vendor Release Date | End of CSUN Support | Latest Vendor EOL Date |
| Ubuntu 23 | 23.04 | Active | 20-Apr-23 | January 2024 | January 2024 | |
| Ubuntu 22 | 22.10 | EOL | 20-Oct-22 | July 2023 | July 2023 | |
| Ubuntu 22 | 22.04 LTS | Active | 21-Apr-22 | April 2027 | April 2027 | |
| Ubuntu 20 | 20.04 LTS | Active | 23-Apr-20 | April 2025 | April 2025 | |
| Ubuntu 19 | 19.10 | EOL | 17-Oct-19 | July 2020 | July 2020 | |
| Ubuntu 19 | 19.04 | EOL | 17-Oct-19 | January 2020 | January 2020 | |
| Ubuntu 18 | 18.04.4 LTS | Active | 12-Feb-20 | April 2028 | April 2028 | |
| Ubuntu 18 | 18.04.3 LTS | Active | 8-Aug-19 | April 2028 | April 2028 | |
| Ubuntu 16 | 16.01.6 LTS | Active | 28-Feb-19 | April 2024 | April 2024 | |
| Ubuntu 14 | 14.04.6 LTS | EOL | 7-Mar-19 | April 2022 | April 2022 | |
| Ubuntu 18 | 18.10 and below | EOL | 18-Oct-18 | 18-Jul-19 | 18-Jul-19 | |
| Ubuntu 12 | 12.04.5 LTS and below | EOL | 7-Aug-14 | 28-Apr-17 | 28-Apr-17 |
Debian
| Debian | Operating System | Latest update or Service Pack | CSUN Support Status | Vendor Release Date | End of CSUN Support | Latest Vendor EOL Date |
| Debian | 12 (Bookworm) | Active | 10-Jun-23 | 10-Jun-28 | 10-Jun-28 | |
| Debian | 11 (Bullseye) | Active | 14-Aug-21 | 15-Aug-26 | 15-Aug-26 | |
| Debian | 10 (Buster) | Active | 6-Jul-19 | 1-Jun-24 | 1-Jun-24 | |
| Debian | 9 (Stretch) | EOL | 17-Jun-17 | 30-Jun-22 | 30-Jun-22 | |
| Debian | 8 (Jessie) | EOL | 26-Apr-15 | 30-Jun-20 | 30-Jun-20 | |
| Debian | 7 (wheezy) and below | EOL | 4-May-13 | 31-May-18 | 31-May-18 |
FreeBSD
| FreeBSD | Operating System | Latest Update or Service Pack | CSUN Support Status | Vendor Release Date | End of CSUN Support | Latest Vendor EOL Date |
| FreeBSD | 13.0 | Active | 13-Apr-21 | 31-Jan-26 | 31-Jan-26 | |
| FreeBSD | 12.2 | EOL | 27-Oct-20 | 31-Mar-22 | 31-Mar-22 | |
| FreeBSD | 12.1 | EOL | Nov 2019 | 31-Jan-21 | 31-Jan-21 | |
| FreeBSD | 11.3 | EOL | Jul 2019 | 30-Sep-20 | 30-Sep-20 | |
| FreeBSD | 10.4 and below | EOL | 3-Oct-17 | 31-Oct-18 | 31-Oct-18 |
Solaris
| Solaris | Operating System | Latest Update or Service Pack | CSUN Support Status | Vendor Release Date | End of CSUN Support | Latest vendor EOL Date |
| Solaris 11 | 11.4 | Active | 28-Aug-18 | Nov 2034 | Nov 2034 | |
| Solaris 10 | 10 | Active | 31-Jan-05 | Jan 2024 | Jan 2024 | |
| Solaris 9 | 9 and below | EOL | 10-Jan-03 | Oct 2014 | Oct 2014 |
*Listed dates are not directly from the vendor.
