Microsoft ends mainstream support period for Windows 7

Microsoft ended the mainstream support period for Windows 7 on Tuesday. The OS is now entering the extended support phase, which will run until January 14, 2020. Windows 7 users will now have to pay for specific support and there will be no new features for the OS.

Closing the mainstream support period for Windows 7 Starter, Home Premium, Ultimate, Professional and Enterprise means that Microsoft will not introduce new features in future updates to the operating system; in the extended support phase, which will run for five years, Microsoft will only release security updates for Windows 7.

Not only will Microsoft stop releasing new features for Windows 7, but users of the operating system will also have to pay for certain support, including specific hotfixes for organizations, for vulnerabilities that are not fixed via regular security updates. Microsoft will completely end support for Windows 7 on January 14, 2020.

The OS is currently still widely used, partly due to the popularity of the operating system within the business world and the influx of former XP users. Many users like this Windows version, which came out in October 2009 after the ‘Vista debacle’, for the fact that Windows 7 does not offer a new ModernUI or Metro interface.

Windows 7 is officially no longer for sale to consumers, both with a new PC or separately, but it is still possible to request a downgrade to Windows 7 for computers with Windows 8 preinstalled.

Starting Tuesday, Microsoft will also end support for Virtual Server 2005, Systems Management Server 2003, Host Integration Server 2004, Visual FoxPro 9.0, and Windows CE 5.0. The next Windows version to be retired is Windows Vista: it will be stamped ‘end-of-life’ on April 11, 2017.