Starting January 10, 2023, Microsoft will end support for Windows 7 and 8 after previously getting extended 'lives'.
Yes, Windows 7 actually stopped supporting in January 2015, and Microsoft provided an extension until January 2020. But then it turned out that there were still many Windows 7 users, reaching 25% of the total Windows users, so Microsoft also provided an additional extension for users who are willing to pay a certain fee. .
Meanwhile Windows 8 was discontinued in January 2018, and then got an extension from Microsoft. Now, it is confirmed that the two old Windows will no longer receive an extension after January 10, 2023.
Apart from Windows, Microsoft will no longer provide updates for the Edge browser on Windows 7 and 8 starting January 12, 2023. Meanwhile, Webview2, the software that allows Edge to display web pages outside the browser, will also no longer receive support starting on the same date.
Not only Microsoft, but Google will no longer support Chrome for Windows 7 and 8.1 starting January 2023, we were quoted as saying from Techspot.
How come Microsoft has the heart to stop support for one of its best-selling products? Maybe because the support for Windows 7 and 8 is too much for them, and Microsoft is better off focusing on support for Windows 11.
For information, Windows 7 and 8 were released in 2009 and 2012. Both received different responses from the public, where Windows 7 was considered equivalent to Windows XP -- which was very popular -- and had a 45% market share two years after its release, while Windows 8 considered a failed product.
For comparison, when Windows 7 was released in 2009, the popular graphics card at that time was the GTX 295 (now it's RTX 4080), then the newest iPhone at that time was the iPhone 3G (now iPhone 14). So, maybe it's time for this old school operating system to be shed and replaced with a more modern one.
Oh yes, as a reminder, Windows 8 was so 'failed', a year after its release it was immediately updated to Windows 8.1, which Windows users both underestimated, with a market share of no more than 19.1%.
Even Windows 7, 13 years after its release, has a market share of over 10%. While Windows 8 is only 2.53%, as of November 2022.