Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 Reach End of Support; Browsers Also Drop Support
Microsoft has ended extended security updates for Windows 7, while Windows 8.1 also reaches end‑of‑life, and major browsers such as Chrome and Edge are withdrawing support, leaving many users to migrate as Windows 10 support will cease in January 2025.
Windows 7, a classic OS released in October 2009, officially ended its paid Extended Security Updates (ESU) on Tuesday, January 10, and Microsoft will no longer issue security patches for it.
Microsoft Edge is not the only browser abandoning Windows 7 and Windows 8.1; in October last year Google announced that Chrome will stop supporting these systems on February 7, 2024.
Edge version 109 will be the final release that supports the legacy Windows operating systems.
Windows 7 received mainstream support until 2015 and extended support until 2020, after which ESU allowed paid security updates.
According to Statcounter, as of November 2022 Windows 7 held a 10.25% market share while Windows 8.1 had 2.53%.
Windows 8.1 also reaches end‑of‑life; unlike Windows 7, Microsoft will not provide an ESU program for it, so both OSes will be completely unsupported from tomorrow.
Additionally, Windows 10 support will end on January 14, 2025.
Many users find Windows 10 easy to use and relatively low‑spec hardware friendly.
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