14 DAY TRIAL // January 12 was the last day when Windows 8 received updates and security patches, so starting next month, this particular operating system version will no longer be included in Microsoft vulnerability squashing plans.
In other words, if you’re still on Windows 8 today, any security hole found in the operating system does not get fixed, so you are pretty much on your own.
Microsoft, on the other hand, wants users to switch to Windows 8.1 and explains that updating the computer doesn’t take more than a few clicks because the switch is performed automatically once they agree with it.
And truth be told, Windows 8.1 also brings a plethora of improvements that many Windows 8 users could like, including a Start button that makes it easier to access the Start screen (no, there’s still no Start menu available in Windows 8.1).
Windows 8.1 no longer supported either
But in fact, Windows 8.1 is no longer supported either and you actually have to update to what Microsoft called Windows 8.1 Update.
Here’s how it goes. Windows 8 was launched in October 2012 and Microsoft said that consumers have 24 months to install the latest “service pack,” which in our case is Windows 8.1. This means the deadline was reached in 2014, but Microsoft started the timer from the general availability of Windows 8.1, which landed in October 2013.
“With the General Availability of Windows 8.1, customers on Windows 8 have 2 years, until January 12, 2016, to move to Windows 8.1 in order to remain supported,” the company said.
And yet, support for the core version of Windows 8.1 ended in August 2015 and users now have to move to what is being called Windows 8.1 Update, a bigger update that the company released in April 2014.
Right now, the best path for Windows 8 users is to move to Windows 8.1 and then install Windows 10. This should provide them with support until at least 2025.