Microsoft will start notifying its users of the impending end of Windows 8.1. Support for the operating system will officially end in January 2023, while the American firm will notify users as soon as next July.
Windows 8.1, it’s almost over. After the death of Internet Explorer not long ago, it’s the turn of Microsoft’s operating system to soon fall by the wayside, since its support will officially cease next January. Launched in 2013 to immediately succeed Windows 8, version 8.1 of the operating system had seen its end recorded in 2018. No more “important” updates to the OS have taken place since that time.
However, as part of Microsoft’s lifecycle support policy, Windows 8.1 got another five years of extended support. Thus, users were still able to benefit from security updates and technical assistance. The five years will therefore end on January 10, 2023 and Windows 8.1 will thus be officially set aside.
Microsoft will notify users that support for Windows 8.1 will end in January 2023
To inform users, Microsoft will start sending notifications. And this from next July. Users will then see three different messages in a few days :
- a “learn more” button
- a “call back later” button
- another button “remind after the end of support date”
All of them will allow users to find out about the situation and will of course suggest that they switch to an alternative. Of course, this is not the first time that Microsoft has used this notification system in the past, particularly in order to encourage users of older versions of Windows to update to newer versions.
Windows 8.1 will still continue to work after January 10, 2023. However, a failure or flaw will not be taken into account by Microsoft. There will also be no way to continue getting security updates. To continue to benefit from Microsoft’s operating system and its software library, it will then be necessary to migrate to Windows 10 or Windows 11. For your information, Windows 10 will continue to be supported by Microsoft and will receive updates security until October 14, 2025.
Source : ZDNet
