Windows 8 Support Will End in Two Years
Microsoft is pushing Windows 8 users to stay updated.
Microsoft reports on its Support website that Windows 8.1 falls under the Windows 8 lifecycle policy, which ends on January 10, 2023. However, the company also states that Windows 8 customers will have two years to move to Windows 8.1 starting this Friday, AKA the General Availability of the Windows 8.1 update, to remain supported under the Windows 8 lifecycle.
According to the chart, Windows 8's mainstream support actually ends on January 9, 2018, followed by the extended support end date on January 10, 2023. This schedule also applies to Windows 8 Enterprise, Windows 8 Enterprise N, Windows 8 N, Windows 8 Pro and Windows 8 Pro N.
With the 2-year limited support, Microsoft is essentially forcing updates on those who typically drag their feet in upgrading. After October 2015, these users will no longer receive critical security patches, new features and improvements, and could possibly be locked out of third-party app updates as well. The only way to stay fresh and secure is to update to the latest version.
"Windows 8.1 builds on the foundation of Windows 8, and includes many enhancements and great new features in key areas like personalization, search, the built-in apps, Windows Store experience, and cloud connectivity," the company states. "Windows 8.1 also introduces new manageability, mobility, security, user experience and networking capabilities for businesses."
Meanwhile, Microsoft continues to push on with its campaign to get customers off Windows XP and Office 2003. Believe it or not, people and businesses still use these decrepit products -- including doctors' offices and retailers -- and fully expect to be supported despite Microsoft's April 8, 2014 cut-off date. Microsoft apparently doesn't care whether customers upgrade to Windows 7 or Windows 8 as long as they're still not relying on Windows XP.
"If your organization has not started the migration to a modern desktop, you are late. Based on historical customer deployment data, the average enterprise deployment can take 18 to 32 months from business case through full deployment," Microsoft reports. "To ensure you remain on supported versions of Windows and Office, you should begin your planning and application testing immediately to ensure you deploy before end of support."
Windows 8.1 goes public on October 18, 2013, this Friday. After that, the two-year countdown timer begins for Windows 8 vanilla.
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.
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.
-
wemakeourfuture At least Windows and Apple support their operating system for many years across devices both on desktop/laptop and mobile platform.Reply
Support of OS for bug and security fixes plus new features is such an underrated consideration for device purchasing. -
dextermat Sorry M$, but since you are forcing the update from 8 to 8.1 it should be free : You created a bad (unwanted) OS and instead of patching it you got a new version out.Reply
In the end, this is one of the cause of piracy. -
ubercake It's just a routine SP update. It makes sense like every other we've seen in the past (major security and other funtionality updates).Reply
That headline does make you want to read further though. Ha! -
stevejnb Reply11731717 said:Sorry M$, but since you are forcing the update from 8 to 8.1 it should be free : You created a bad (unwanted) OS and instead of patching it you got a new version out.
In the end, this is one of the cause of piracy.
Actually, as has been said, it is free if you own Windows 8.
This is kind of a non-issue... It's like saying "MS no longer supports Windows 7 without a service pack." Ok, that's fine - just get the service pack. If you buy Windows 8, Windows 8.1 is a free update... So Windows 8 support won't matter, since you'll just update to 8.1 and have that updated.
Windows 8.1 is a fancy way of saying "Windows 8 with the first service pack." -
velocityg4 Why not just flag 8.1 as a Service Pack update and have push through Windows Update?Reply -
warmon6 Reply11731717 said:Sorry M$, but since you are forcing the update from 8 to 8.1 it should be free : You created a bad (unwanted) OS and instead of patching it you got a new version out.
In the end, this is one of the cause of piracy.
come on now, you cant tell me you've been living under rock..... :heink:
It's been a well known thing for months now that 8.1 will be free to those running 8.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2038718/microsoft-confirms-the-windows-8-1-update-a-k-a-blue-will-be-free.html -
stevejnb Reply11731839 said:Why not just flag 8.1 as a Service Pack update and have push through Windows Update?
Meh, it's MS trying to rebrand itself. I think they took a cue from Android on this whole scheme... Rather than release each individual incremental update as some service pack that most people don't even realize is happening, make a big deal out of each semi-major update and make it sound like it's some whole new version - when in reality, it's just a few small'ish feature changes and security updates. Windows 8.1 is to Windows 8 what Android 4.1 is to 4... Neither is insignificant, but they are both about the same type of leap we saw between Windows 7 and Windows 7 Service Pack 1 - just, that didn't have the fanfare of these new OS updates. -
flacoman3 Again Tom's is making misleading article titles. Whoever is the lead editor must have a real bone to pick with Microsoft letting these purposefully misleading title get through...Reply