- Microsoft announced that extended security updates for Windows 7 Professional and Enterprise editions will end on January 10, 2023.
- Microsoft advised users to upgrade their hardware to switch to Windows 11 or consider Windows 10 as an option.
- Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome are also dropping support for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 operating systems.
Microsoft is ending Windows 7 extended security updates on January 10, 2023. Microsoft announced the decision with a post that says, the support for Windows 7 ended on January 14, 2020, but the company decided to provide users with security updates for Microsoft 365 for the next 3 years, until January 2023. Microsoft aims to give users additional time to transition from running Microsoft 365 on devices running Windows 7 to a supported operating system, such as Windows 11 or Windows 10.
No more updates
Starting from January 10, 2023, devices using Windows 7 won’t receive any new feature updates. Microsoft also recommends users switch to the latest hardware capabilities by moving to a new PC with Windows 11 since most Windows 7 devices will not meet the hardware requirements for upgrading to Windows 11.
As an alternative, compatible Windows 7 PCs can be upgraded to Windows 10, which will reach its end-of-support date on October 14, 2025.
Microsoft also planning on releasing Microsoft Edge 109 in January, which will be the last version that will support Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1. It will also be the last Edge version that supports Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2. Google is also ending support for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. The next Chrome version, version 110, will possibly drop support for those operating systems and won’t receive any updates or bug fixes.