Microsoft Extends Consumer Support for Windows 7 and Vista

Earlier this month, Microsoft has made a series of changes to its support policies for the consumer versions of its Windows client.

Basically, the company has made some changes to the support lifecycle of Windows Vista and Windows 7. Compared to the initial period, the new support timeframe has been doubled.

Basically, instead of five years of Mainstream Support, which have been previously guaranteed via the said policies, consumer will benefit from ten years of assistance with their products.

Microsoft did offer ten years of official updates for Windows before, but only to its business customers.

Following the said changes in the company’s policies for offering assistance for the said Windows client versions, end-users will benefit from the same extended period of updates as business users.

On the company’s support web page for both Windows Vista and Windows 7, the said new Extended Support end dates for consumer versions are already listed.

Thus, users who will access the said pages will learn that Windows XP will benefit from Extended Support until April 8th, 2014; Windows Vista will be receiving official updates until April 11th, 2017, while Windows 7 will enjoy them until January 14th, 2020.

Microsoft has already confirmed these changes officially, a recent post on ZDNet reads:

Microsoft is updating the Support Lifecycle policy for Windows desktop operating systems, including Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

The update will provide a more consistent and predictable experience for customers using Microsoft Windows operating systems across OEM, consumer and business editions.

Microsoft still requires that customers have the most current Service Pack installed in order to continue to receive updates.

Through this update, customers who remain on the most current supported service pack will be eligible to receive both Mainstream and Extended Support, for a total of 10 years.

With these changes, Microsoft shows once again its commitment to providing enhanced support to its Windows users. To learn some more info on the company’s support lifecycle policy for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, just head over to the company’s support website.