14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has decided to stop offering support for Windows 7 and a series of other products on the official Community forums, instead letting the discussion threads still up for users to chat with each other.
In a notification posted on the forums, Microsoft explains that agents will no longer contribute with technical support, instead offering basic moderation for the rest of the community.
“Please be advised that effective July 2018, the forum topics for products that reached end of support will no longer receive technical support from Microsoft agents. There will be no proactive reviews, monitoring, answering or answer marking of questions. The forums will still have Microsoft moderation to ensure participants can engage in a safe and positive environment,” Microsoft explains, adding that this decision affects discussion threads for Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 8.1 RT.
As noted on AskWoody, other forums will also be abandoned, including Lumia, Microsoft Security Essentials, Office 2010 and Office 2013, and Internet Explorer 11. Just like in the case of Windows 7, discussion threads will still be allowed, only that Microsoft agents will no longer participate.
Not really a big loss
For many users, Microsoft agents not monitoring threads and offering solutions isn’t such a big deal, as many of their solutions have long been considered useless. These agents, who don’t work directly for Microsoft, but for third-party companies hired to offer support, typically provide generic solutions that don’t help much in the case of complex bugs.
On the other hand, it’s important to note that this isn’t the end of support for Windows 7. Security updates will continue to be offered until January 2020, so users still running it have more than a year and a half to upgrade their devices to a newer operating system.
Windows 7 is currently the world’s number one desktop operating system with a share that exceeds 40 percent, while Windows 10 is still behind with approximately 34 percent.