Microsoft No Longer Selling Windows 7 to Retailers
Microsoft stopped selling Windows 7 to retailer at the end of October.
Consumers looking to install Windows 7 on their current computers are now out of luck, as Microsoft has quietly discontinued the sale of the operating system as of October 30, 2013. The end of sales for PCs with Windows preinstalled will be on October 30, 2014, meaning you have less than a year to snatch up a desktop or laptop with Windows 7 preinstalled.
"End of sales refers to the date when a particular version of Windows is no longer shipped to retailers or Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs)," states Microsoft's lifecycle chart. "Examples of OEMs are Dell and Toshiba—PC manufacturers who often preinstall Windows software. When a version of Windows reaches its end of sales date, it's a good time to think about upgrading."
Computerworld points out that Microsoft's end-of-retail-sales date is a meaningless deadline, as many online retailers will continue to sell the software long after Microsoft pulls the plug. Although Microsoft itself has pulled Windows 7 from its virtual shelves, Amazon remains stocked full of various versions of Windows 7, as does tech specialist Newegg. Even some of Newegg's partners still carry Windows Vista and the current thorn in Microsoft's side, Windows XP.
"When Microsoft launches a new version of Windows, we will continue to allow OEMs to sell PCs preinstalled with the previous version for up to two years after the launch date of the new version," states Microsoft's lifecycle chart. "Certain OEM versions of Windows products include downgrade rights. Downgrade rights make it possible to use a previous version of Windows instead of the licensed software preinstalled on a new PC."
According to the chart, Windows XP exited the retail space on June 30, 2008, and was no longer licensed to OEMs on October 22, 2010. Windows Vista was discontinued in stores on October 22, 2010, and no longer sold to OEMs on October 22, 2011. Windows 8 won't be sold in stores beginning October 31, 2014, replaced by the current Windows 8.1, which launched on October 18, 2013.
The discontinuation of Windows 7 at retail feels like the end of an era. Like Windows XP, Microsoft may have a hard time shaking customers off the Windows 7 platform, as it has remained a solid, dependable platform since its introduction back in October 2009. Many Windows XP users feel the same way about their old operating system despite Microsoft putting pressure on them to upgrade. Eventually, Microsoft may have to do the same with Windows 7 users.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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makaveli316 That's clever from Microsoft. The normal user doesn't care/know what system he gets. I doubt anyone who buys pre-configured pcs even know how to install an operating system. There are plenty of ways to get Windows 7 if you want it, just don't buy those overpriced OEM pcs.Reply -
InvalidError Reply
Microsoft saying that they are "no longer selling" simply means that they have stopped taking new orders, stamping out new install DVDs and ordering packaging a while ago and are fulfilling their remaining orders from inventory. The product itself will remain available until all existing inventory from Microsoft, distributors and retailers dries out.12122250 said:You can probably still get it online, so no big deal.
It isn't "end of sales" as in pull every remaining unsold copy off the shelves and warehouses, toss them in a heap and burn them. -
p05esto I just bought 3 licenses of Windows 7 for some new computers and one older one. I have Win8 on a laptop and it's the biggest pile of steaming crap I have ever laid hands on. It's impossible to find advanced functions, there's no logical navigation around the OS, the missing start menu is insane, the two interfaces with Metro and Desktop is enough to make me try and Apple product (and I freaking hate Apple). Seriously MS needs to get their shit together, 8.1 is JUST as sucky, I saw no improvement in the things I hate about Win8. My patience is diminishing with MS.Reply -
JD88 Reply12122413 said:I just bought 3 licenses of Windows 7 for some new computers and one older one. I have Win8 on a laptop and it's the biggest pile of steaming crap I have ever laid hands on. It's impossible to find advanced functions, there's no logical navigation around the OS, the missing start menu is insane, the two interfaces with Metro and Desktop is enough to make me try and Apple product (and I freaking hate Apple). Seriously MS needs to get their shit together, 8.1 is JUST as sucky, I saw no improvement in the things I hate about Win8. My patience is diminishing with MS.
Check out Linux. Ubuntu or Mint are both excellent choices. The best part is, they're free. -
InvalidError Reply
The start menu problem can be fixed for free with Classic Shell Start Menu.12122413 said:I have Win8 on a laptop and it's the biggest pile of steaming crap I have ever laid hands on. It's impossible to find advanced functions, there's no logical navigation around the OS, the missing start menu is insane
I agree for the computer management and other more geeky features; they really seem to be piling up messes upon messes there. The most frustrating such example is networking: in XP and Vista, just about all networking configurations could be handled from the network management page. With Win8, that page has become almost useless since you cannot create or properly edit connections from it, activating interfaces sends you to the charms interface and creation has to be started from the control panel... so network management that used to be all in one place has been split into at least three scattered components with incoherent presentations.
Back in the days of 3.xx/95/98/2000/XP, people used to praise Microsoft for how uniform presentation was between their applications and across the OS. Seems like they have been going in the exact opposite direction for most of the past decade. -
lp231 Reply12122382 said:
Microsoft saying that they are "no longer selling" simply means that they have stopped taking new orders, stamping out new install DVDs and ordering packaging a while ago and are fulfilling their remaining orders from inventory. The product itself will remain available until all existing inventory from Microsoft, distributors and retailers dries out.12122250 said:You can probably still get it online, so no big deal.
It isn't "end of sales" as in pull every remaining unsold copy off the shelves and warehouses, toss them in a heap and burn them.
I know that. All I'm saying is if someone goes to a retail shop and they don't have it, they can always order it online. This has nothing to do with every store just takes all copies of Win7, throw it in the bin and burn it.
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10tacle I've been holding off on buying a 3-user Windows 7 OEM bundle for my spare laptop and older home-built gaming PCs laying around using either Vista (patched up it's not that bad, just a memory pig) or XP. This story just motivated me to pull the trigger.Reply -
Alsone It will just push people off Windows when 7 is no longer available.Reply
Many people just don;t want Windows 8 or its tiles and although the start button has been re-instated its only partial. I can't ever see myself installing Windows again until the full Start Button, Desktop, Video Desktop etc are all re-instated. Quite happy with Win 7 for ever and when its not available then it will be Mac time if no acceptable version of Windows is made. I've never known so many people going over to Macs.