14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 10 will launch on July 29 and will be free for those running a genuine version of Windows 7 or Windows 8 on their PCs, with Microsoft saying that updates will continue to be provided during the entire supported lifetime of these devices.
While Microsoft is yet to provide us with more information on how exactly it plans to determine the lifetime of some devices running Windows 10, an update the company posted on the Windows lifecycle fact sheet page reveals that the new OS will continue to receive updates until 2025.
Basically, just like all the other Windows operating systems out there, Windows 10 will have two important support dates during its lifetime: end of mainstream support and end of extended support.
The first will take place on October 23, 2020, while the latter will happen on October 14, 2025, so Windows 10 will continue to receive updates for more than 10 years.
Mainstream support is the 5-year period after the launch of an operating system during which Microsoft rolls out updates and new features, while during extended support only security fixes are being provided.
Windows 7 going dark in 2020
Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella explained that the number one priority for Windows 10 is to upgrade those on Windows 7, especially because this particular OS version has a market share that exceeds 50 percent, which means that more than 1 in 2 PCs in the world are running it.
Windows 7 has already reached the end of mainstream support this year on January 13, but the end of extended support will happen on January 14, 2020.
This means that Windows 10 will receive updates for five more years after Windows 7. Obviously, Microsoft will ship some other updates in the meantime that will extend the lifetime of Windows 10 for several more years, but it'll be interesting to see whether the death of Windows 7 in 2020 will create another Windows XP moment for Microsoft.