If you still want your next PC to run Windows 7, better act soon. Microsoft has updated its “Windows lifecycle” fact sheet, and the last day you’ll be able to buy a PC with Windows 7 preinstalled is October 31, 2016. Microsoft would have shelved Windows 7 awhile ago, since it normally sells previous versions just two years after the next one arrives. However, many people treated Windows 8 like it was radioactive, so Windows 7 Professional (OEM) was extended, and will actually come off the market after Windows 8, and on the same day as Windows 8.1. Apart from pre-installed copies of Windows 7 Professional, all other Windows 7 versions are already off the market.[related-posts]
If you plan on running your current PC on Windows 7 for a long time, though, don’t fret. Windows 7 extended support runs until January 14, 2020, and you could transfer your retail license to a new machine in the meantime. After that, however, Windows 7 will essentially become a dead soldier just like Windows XP — an OS that many security experts think lingered for far too long.
[Engadget]
