Microsoft will be ending support for its Windows 8.1 operating system on January 10, 2023. The company in a support page wrote that the Windows 8.1 OS will reach end-of-support on January 10, after which the company will stop providing technical assistance and software updates for the same.
Furthermore, the company said that it will not be offering an Extended Security Update (ESU) program for its Windows 8.1 OS, unlike the Windows 7 OS. For the unversed, the Extended Security Update (ESU) program is a last resort option for customers who need to run certain legacy Microsoft products past the end of support. It includes critical and important security updates for a maximum of three years after the product’s end of extended support date. This means that Windows PC users, who still have their devices running the Windows 8.1 OS will no longer get the critical security updates to safeguard their PCs and their data from cyber threats.
“Microsoft will not be offering an Extended Security Update (ESU) program for Windows 8.1. Continuing to use Windows 8.1 after January 10, 2023, may increase an organization’s exposure to security risks or impact its ability to meet compliance obligations,” the company wrote on the support page.
In addition to Windows 8.1, Microsoft’s will also be ending support for its Windows 7 operating system. It is worth noting that Microsoft had stopped rolling out technical and security updates for Windows 7 on January 14, 2020. However, the company had extended its Extended Security Update (ESU) program for the operating. Now, the company will be ending support for Windows 7’s ESU program on January 10, 2023.
It is worth noting the PCs running on Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 operating system will not stop working from January 10. However, they will be increasingly vulnerable to bugs, malware and other security threats online. Also, these PCs will not be able to access the latest features and functionalities offered by the company.
Microsoft has recommended that users who have devices running Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 should upgrade them to Windows 11 as soon as possible. Furthermore, the company says that if their devices do not meet the technical requirements to run Windows 11, they ‘replace the device with one that supports Windows 11’.