Windows 7is, and will remain, the top operating system used worldwide for many years to come, despite Microsoft announcing the end of support. Systems running Windows 7 have grown so much in the last two years that they are present on more than 50% of desktops worldwide.
Needless to say, the news that Microsoft is ending support for Windows 7 has caused a backlash, something we also experienced with the end of support for Windows XP.
As we reported yesterday, Windows 7 will no longer be supported on January 13, 2015, and Microsoft has already started issuing warnings to remind users that it is important to upgrade the system they are using for better protection and stability.
While it's true that Windows 7 has been entering an extended support period since early 2015, users of the operating system have absolutely no reason to worry.
But what does it really mean that mainstream and extended support are ending? Here are the official descriptions offered by Microsoft for the two support periods:
"Microsoft's mainstream support will provide general support for at least 5 years from the general availability date of the product, or for 2 years after the next new product is released. For example, if you buy a new version of Windows and five years later another version is released, you will still have two years of support.".
“Microsoft Extended Support will provide support for at least 5 years from the general availability date of the product, or for 2 years after the second subsequent product release (two releases later)”
To understand the difference, in mainstream support, Windows will get not only security patches and fixes, but also new features and optimizations that are supposed to make the operating system more stable and reliable.
In extended support, Windows will only receive security fixes, which are of course clearly more important.
In other words, from January 2015 Windows 7 will not receive updates that add any new features, but will continue to be updated to fix vulnerabilities that could put the system at risk.
Let's remind you that by the time Windows 7 stops being supported mainstream, the first beta version of Windows 9 should already be available. That way, everyone could try out the new product and decide if they really like the new version of the operating system. Especially if it is going to be released for free to users of systems with Windows 7 SP1.
