The Support for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 has ended, so it’s time to upgrade

Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 are no longer supported. Today, more than ten years after their initial releases, these outdated versions of Windows (together with Windows RT), stop receiving all security upgrades. In a few days, Microsoft will also stop offering Microsoft Edge browser upgrades for these operating systems, and any surviving third-party apps that continue to function will soon do the same (Google Chrome support, most notably, ends early next month).

Although the majority of users’ access to Windows 7 has been discontinued for three years, businesses that continued to use it might pay for up to three more years of support while switching to Windows 10 or 11. As of this now, Microsoft isn’t providing a paid support option for Windows 8.1.

Despite being rare and becoming much more so, 

Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 computers are nonetheless used widely for their ages.

 According to Statcounter, both OSes account for less than 14% of Windows PCs globally and more like 8% in the US. The percentage of PCs in the Steam Hardware Survey is currently averaging about 2%.

The quickest way out, short of purchasing new hardware, if you or someone whose PC you reluctantly support is still running Windows 7 or 8.1 is to update to Windows 10.

It should continue to be free to install on the majority of legitimately licensed Windows 7 and 8.1 PCs, has mostly the same set of system requirements, and will be supported through at least October 2025. The majority of computers that come pre-installed with Windows 7 or 8 won’t be able to run Windows 11; however, an unsupported install is a possibility.

There is also Linux, a constantly updated operating system that works with a variety of PC hardware.

For enhancing (and, to some extent, rebranding) Windows Vista, Windows 7 is remembered with affection. Windows 8 and 8.1 didn’t catch on as well, and they tried to force a touchscreen-centric user interface on people who didn’t need or want it, but they made significant improvements to Windows’ touchscreen support, and the time period served as inspiration for enduringly popular PC designs like Microsoft’s Surface and Lenovo’s foldable Yoga convertible laptops. Additionally,

Windows RT, an Arm version of Windows 8, which came without any sort of compatibility layer for desktop Windows apps, contributed to laying the groundwork for the present Arm versions of the operating system.