Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 reach the end of the line, and it’s time to upgrade

Enlarge / The first-generation Surface Pro running Windows 8. (credit: Ars Technica)

It's the end of the line for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. Both of these older versions of Windows (plus Windows RT) stop receiving all security updates today, over a decade after their original releases. Microsoft will also stop providing Microsoft Edge browser updates for these operating systems in a few days, and the remaining third-party apps that still work will eventually follow suit (Google Chrome support, most notably, ends early next month).

Windows 7 support for most people actually ended three years ago, but businesses that still used it could pay for up to three years of additional support while they transitioned to Windows 10 or 11. That window has now closed, and Microsoft isn't offering a paid support option for Windows 8.1.

Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 PCs are rare and getting rarer, but both are still in relatively wide use given their age. Statcounter says that both OSes count for just under 14 percent of all Windows PCs worldwide and closer to 8 percent in the US. For PCs in the Steam Hardware Survey, the number is currently hovering at around 2 percent.

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