Microsoft to end mainstream support for Windows 7 early next year

Microsoft will reportedly end mainstream support for the popular Windows 7 early next year, since it has been nearly two years since the release of Windows 8.

Since the Windows XP veteran saw its demise, Windows 7 remains the most popular iteration of Microsoft's operating system. Numerous users worldwide still rely on Windows 7 as their operating system of choice, and some PC makers even continue to install it on new PCs.

If you use Windows 7 as well, you may be interested to know that Microsoft plans on ending mainstream support for the OS in early 2015, KitGuru reveals. What exactly does that mean?

Microsoft typically offers support for its operating systems for a minimum of 10 years. Of these 10 years, the company offers what it calls "mainstream support" for a minimum of five years, or for two years after the release of its successor. Then the OS in question enters the so-called extended support, which lasts for another minimum of five years, or for two years after the release of its successor. In this case, Windows 8 is the successor, and it's approaching its two-year mark on the market.

During this mainstream support phase, Microsoft issues security updates, non-security hot fixes, feature improvements, performance enhancements, free design changes, and accepts warranty claims. The subsequent extended support, meanwhile, only covers free security updates and paid hot-fix support.

According to Kitguru, all versions of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 will enter extended support come Jan. 13, 2015. This means that these OS versions will no longer receive any new features, performance enhancements, or design changes. Extended support for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 will continue until early 2020.

In light of these plans to end mainstream support, Microsoft partners will keep selling PCs running Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium, and Ultimate only until the end of October this year. It remains unknown at this point when PC makers will stop selling machines with Windows 7 Professional pre-installed.

This news, while not completely unexpected, is all the more intriguing since Microsoft pulled the plug on Windows XP extended support back in April, prompting many businesses and corporations to upgrade their systems to Windows 7 Professional.

Now, with Windows 7 approaching the end of mainstream support, it will be interesting to see whether any users will shift to the newer Windows 8.