It's been a long time coming, but the day is finally here. Today, Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 have both received their last updates ever, and they're no longer supported. Indeed, these two operating systems are effectively dead, and anyone still using them will be exposing their PC to big security risks going forward.
Windows 7 is dead — for good
Of course, it's not a surprise. For Windows 7, it's not even the first time the operating system is considered "dead". Windows 7 first launched in late 2009, and extended support for the operating system ended on January 14th, 2020. Microsoft's fixed lifecycle policy mandates at least 10 years of extended support, and it went a little over that.
However, because Windows 7 was so hugely popular, many users refused to move on from it, even when Windows 10 launched as a free upgrade. To appease enterprise customers who couldn't upgrade quickly, Microsoft offered an extended security update (ESU) program. This gave businesses the option to get up to an additional three years of updates, though it came at an annual cost that doubled each year.
It's been three years since that program began, though, and that means Windows 7 is now definitively done as far as Microsoft is concerned. Businesses should have moved to Windows 10 by now.
Windows 8.1 is also gone
Windows 8 launched three years after Windows 7, and just like that version, it was governed by Microsoft's fixed lifecycle policy, which means extended support had to last 10 years at a minimum. However, the way the policy works is that this support period only applies to the latest version of the operating system, so if there happened to be a Service Pack or other major update, users would have to install it to remain supported.
In this case, that was the update to Windows 8.1, which was released one year after Windows 8 as a free upgrade. Even though Windows 8 itself stopped being supported in 2016, Microsoft had to support Windows 8.1 for at least 10 years after the launch of Windows 8, and those 10 years ended in late 2022. As usual, users were given a couple of extra months.
Because Windows 8.1 never had the level of popularity that Windows 7 had, there's no ESU program for this one, so this is the end of the road for Microsoft's touch-focused OS. Both are being killed off at the same time, despite the difference in age.
It's time to upgrade to Windows 10
Of course, the big question now is what you should do if you're running Windows 7 or 8.1. The answer is fairly simple: You can either buy a new PC or upgrade to Windows 10. Windows 10 made its debut in 2015, and that means it's supported until 2025, giving you a little over two years of support.
Most Windows 7 and 8.1 PCs should be able to upgrade to Windows 10 without any issues. In fact, that was a big focus for Microsoft, since the goal was to have everyone on Windows 10. Back in the day, Microsoft said the free upgrade to Windows 10 would last one year, but in reality, anyone can still upgrade if they want to. If you need any help, check out our guide on how to upgrade to Windows 10 if you're running Windows 7 or 8.1.
If you want to upgrade to Windows 11, you'll probably need to buy a new PC that supports it. Any laptop that runs Windows today is shipping with Windows 11, or at the very least it supports the upgrade.