14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 7, which was arguably the most popular operating system ever released by Microsoft, is officially retired.
After originally reaching the end of support in January 2020, Windows 7 has now reached end of the third and final year of security updates shipped to devices as part of the ESU program.
Through the ESU program, Microsoft can continue shipping updates to companies that agree to pay for further security patches for the devices that continue to run an unsupported operating system.
Since January 2020, the following schedule has been used for Windows 7 updates:
- Windows 7 Extended Security Updates 2020: January 14, 2020 - January 12, 2021
- Windows 7 Extended Security Updates 2021: January 13, 2021 - January 11, 2022
- Windows 7 Extended Security Updates 2022: January 12, 2022 - January 10, 2023
Thanks to the ESU program, updates for Windows 7 devices have been shipped on Patch Tuesday, just like before the OS reached the end of support. Furthermore, Internet Explorer and .NET Framework updates also continued to ship every month.
“Security updates for Windows 7 will be released to ESU customers on the second Tuesday of every month. If there are no Critical or Important updates for Windows 7 in any given month (as prescribed by the Microsoft Security Response Center), there will be no ESU updates in that update cycle. If an off-cycle security update is considered necessary, Windows 7 ESU customers will receive the update outside the regular monthly cadence,” Microsoft says.
In addition to Windows 7, another Windows version is getting the ax today. Windows 8.1 has also reached the end of support, though this time, the software giant isn’t going to provide extended security updates, so the operating system is being retired for good.