After Microsoft started notifying Windows 7 users about the upcoming end of support last month, today is finally the day: the software giant is ending support for the still popular desktop OS today, a little more than 10 years after its initial release. The company will continue to provide extended security updates for organizations willing to pay for them.
According to Netmarketshare, 26% of Windows users were still using Windows 7 in December, which is a problem for Microsoft. The company initially expected to reach 1 billion Windows 10 users within three years of the launch of the OS in in 2015, but Windows 10 only crossed 900 million users in September, a number that also includes non-PC devices such as Xbox One, Surface Hub, or HoloLens., Wi
For many, Windows 7 will likely remain the last “good” version of Windows, especially after the disappointment that Windows Vista was. Windows 7 was also released before the “post-PC” world announced by Steve Jobs in 2010, the year when Apple launched its first iPad. The rise and tablets and mobile apps obviously had a big impact on the development of Windows 8, but Microsoft dropped the ball with its redesigned Start Menu that most users hated. Windows 10 also had its part of controversies with automatic telemetry, buggy updates, and inconsistent design choices. Windows 10 remains a much better OS overall, but a lot of consumers and enterprise users have been waiting to upgrade until now.
If you’re still using Windows 7 on your PC, be aware that you can still upgrade to Windows 10 for free using Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool. If you’re really nostalgic, our own Arif Bacchus also wrote a guide for making Windows 10 look and act just like Windows 7.
