14 DAY TRIAL // Another Windows version will be retired in 12 months, but this time, Microsoft is expected to manage the whole thing a lot more easily than it did with Windows XP (which continues to be the third most popular desktop OS in the world 2 years after end of support).
Windows Vista will go dark on April 11, 2017 (via heise), so users still running this particular OS version have exactly 12 months to upgrade their computers to Windows 7, 8.1, or Windows 10.
Mainstream support for Windows Vista ended on April 10, 2012, so next year, Microsoft will terminate extended support too, so the operating system will no longer receive security updates and patches. Computers still running it will become vulnerable to attacks should any flaws be found beyond this date.
Only few PCs still running Vista
Fortunately for Microsoft, only a few PCs are still running Windows Vista, and it’s no wonder why. Vista is often referred to as Microsoft’s “biggest flop,” although opinions are still divided on whether Vista was worse than Windows 8 or the other way around.
According to third-party data, Windows Vista is only powering 1.41 percent of the desktop computers around the world, and most of the users still running it are expected to upgrade by the time end of support is reached.
Not the same thing can be said about Windows XP, which was launched in 2001 but is still amazingly popular, with 10.90 percent of the desktop computers out there still using it.
Options for Windows Vista users
Unfortunately for those who are on Vista and are willing to upgrade to Windows 10, Microsoft isn’t offering its latest operating system free of charge to them, but only to those running Windows 7 or 8.1.
This means that they need to purchase a Windows 10 license if this is their next destination, or simply stick with Windows 7 or 8.1 for a few more years and then perform the upgrade to 10. What’s worth knowing is that should Vista users move to Windows 7 or 8.1 by July 29 this year, they can then upgrade to Windows 10 completely free of charge, as part of the free upgrade promo launched in 2015.