Microsoft officially announced end of support to 10-year-old Windows Vista operating system that had debuted with severe criticism in 2006. While mainstream support for Windows Vista ended on April 10, 2012 – five years after its general availability – extended support ended on Tuesday, April 11.
This means Microsoft will no longer provide security updates for the operating system, while automatic fixes, feature requests, warranty claims, and online technical assistance ended with the end of mainstream support.
“As of April 11, 2017, Windows Vista customers are no longer receiving new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support options, or online technical content updates from Microsoft. Microsoft has provided support for Windows Vista for the past 10 years, but the time has come for us, along with our hardware and software partners, to invest our resources towards more recent technologies so that we can continue to deliver great new experiences.” Microsoft said in a blog.
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Microsoft further says users that continue to use Windows Vista now that support has ended, expose their devices to security risks and viruses.
The company explained it has also stopped providing Microsoft Security Essentials for download on Windows Vista. Users with Microsoft Security Essentials already installed will continue to receive antimalware signature updates for a limited time. It adds however, that “Microsoft Security Essentials (or any other antivirus software) will have limited effectiveness on PCs that do not have the latest security updates.”
