It seems like only yesterday that Windows XP support was ended by Microsoft, and now the company has announced that the Windows 7 operating system will be experiencing the same kind of support redaction in the next few months.
Microsoft plans to end ‘mainstream’ support for the operating system, which is currently one of the older systems from Microsoft currently supported by the company. Windows 7 will no longer be eligible for free over the phone tech support from Microsoft, plus the OS will no longer get any more features or tweaks.
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Although this doesn’t mean that updates and security fixes for Windows 7 will stop – critical security updates for 7 will run all the way through to 2020, meaning that users will be able to continue to use Windows 7 on their computers for the next 5 odd years before security updates conclude and the system becomes a grey area with regards to safety.
In that time, users should be able to pick up Windows 8.1 or the upcoming Windows 10, two newer systems from Microsoft which are currently still supported by them. Windows 7 came around in 2009, so in terms of the lifespan of the OS, users have had a good 10 years plus of fun with Windows 7.
Apart from being Microsoft’s biggest OS release, selling 100 million licenses in the first six months following release, Windows 7 currently holds a significant percentage of the Windows market share. Numbers of XP users reportedly dropped following discontinuation of support, and the records show that 7 mostly filled in the gaps.
Microsoft users should not worry about continuing to use the older OS – it’s considered the most stable OS from Microsoft for the time being, and as a stopgap prior to the release of Windows 10 the OS serves admirably. But now that newer operating systems are available, it could very well be the time to make that switch.
For those of you who aren’t quite sure of what’s coming in Windows 10, we’re going to cover an event by Microsoft covering the OS and a number of new features on the 21st of January 2015, where hopefully a plethora of new info on Windows 10 will arrive, not in the least better detailing of the cross compatibility of the system on handheld devices as well as PCs, laptops and tablets.
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Rumored Windows 10 features include Spartan, a new web browser, virtual desktops for separation business form pleasure, digital assistant Cortana, as well as an upgraded Start Menu that includes similar Live Tiles included on Windows 8.1 – these tiles include app shortcuts and other quick go to’s for widgets and features downloaded from the Windows Store.
Whilst Windows 7 is on the way out, Windows 10 should more than make up for it, even though users won’t have to worry about changing to a new OS until 2020.
Source: Windows Life Cycle
Via: Techspot