While Microsoft is going to support Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 for some time now, the company has decided to no longer sell these iterations of its operating system to PC makers. What this means is that the company is now pushing them to make PCs that run Windows 10 by default. It makes sense since Windows 10 is the latest and greatest iteration of Microsoft’s operating system and the company wants it to be the center of attention from here on out.
Microsoft stopped giving Windows 7 Professional and Windows 8.1 licenses to OEM partners yesterday. For customers, this means that they can only get their hands on a PC powered by Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 if it’s available because OEMs won’t be restocking existing PCs or shipping new ones with these iterations anymore.
The company has already stopped selling licenses of Windows 7 Home Basic, Windows 7 Home Premium, and Windows 7 Ultimate to PC makers. It actually did that two years ago so the only option that PC makers have right now is Windows 10 and that’s precisely what Microsoft wants them to focus their energies on.
It merits mentioning here that Microsoft has already stopped mainstream support for Windows 7, it covers warranty claims, fixes for non-security bugs, free incident support, feature requests, and design changes. The extended support that consists of security updates will be provided until January 14th, 2020.
Filed in . Read more about Microsoft, Windows 10, Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. Source: venturebeat