Windows 7 It has been one of the best operating systems in the history of Microsoft, along with XP. But no software lasts forever, and, as expected, after the arrival of Windows 8 and Windows 10, 7 has been losing users until, finally, Microsoft announced its end of support. Since 2020, Microsoft no longer releases updates, neither security nor maintenance, for this system. And companies that still use it could pay for paid support to an external company to have 3 more years of security patches. But this grace period ends. What will happen from now on?
Microsoft’s initial idea was to offer only 3 years of additional support, paid, for companies that still use this OS. In addition, year after year, updates to Windows 7 were going to become more expensive to encourage companies to make the leap to the new system. However, market share hasn’t dropped as much as Microsoft hoped, and its operating system is still widely used by businesses around the world. And you can’t just leave them lying around.
For this reason, it seems that Microsoft has changed its mind regarding the extended support of Windows 7. And the July security patches for this operating system have come with a surprise that will have given more than one a break. And it is that, as of July 2022, Windows 7 has the same market share as Windows 11, that is, around 11% for both systems. Of course, while 11 is on the rise, 7 continues to lose more and more users, as is logical.
3 more years of Windows 7 (at least)
The last two security patches for Windows 7, KB5015861 and KB5015862, in addition to the relevant corrections, also update the ESU extended support licenses and keys, adding a longer validity period. Specifically, the second of these updates extends the Windows 7 support until January 2026.
The editions that can benefit from this extended support are the following:
- Windows 7 SP1 Enterprise
- Windows 7 SP1 Pro
- Windows Server 2008 R2
- Embedded Standard 7
- Embedded POS Ready 7
Obviously, the personal editions for home use have not received support or updates since 2020, and will continue to do so. But, in the worst case, we can install the Pro edition at home and continue using this system, despite its limitations. In addition, there are certain “tricks” that, although they are not legal and break the terms of use, allow us to install these security patches on all editions of the system, even on Windows 7 Home.
Windows 8.1 does say goodbye
The system that will not receive any type of extended support, neither free nor paid, is Windows 8.1. A few weeks ago, Microsoft confirmed the death of this operating system, which will stop receiving all kinds of updates and support as of January 10, 2023. And this makes sense, since 8.1 does not exceed just 3% of the market share.
The funny thing is that Windows 10 will reach its end of life in 2025, and, for now, Microsoft has not commented on whether or not it will have extended support. It would be interesting to see how this operating system, with a 73% market share, is abandoned to its fate while Windows 7 is still supported in 2025. Time will tell.
