Microsoft plans on waving aside Windows 8.1 with end of support notifications

Microsoft plans on waving aside Windows 8.1 with end of support notifications
3 min read
20 August 2022

Reminders that support will end on January 10, 2023, are soon to be sent by Microsoft to existing Windows 8.1 devices.

As an initial warning preceding the January 2023 discontinuation of support, the software will begin sending warnings to Windows 8.1 users next month.

Just the way Microsoft sent reminders to Windows 7 users notifying them about end-of-support dates, the same method will be applied to Windows 8.1.

In Jan. 2023, support will be fully closed from the Windows 8.1 update. Microsoft will not be granting an Extended Security Update (ESU) program for Windows 8.1, so businesses won’t be able to pay for extra security patches and will have to upgrade or accept the risk of running software without security updates.

Windows 8.1 was mostly a big fix for the reception of Windows 8. Windows 8 dropped the conventional desktop and Start button to such an extent that a lot of PC users disliked it, but brought in a new central touch vision for Microsoft's future.

The mobile-first OS did not concur with the desires of its users, and Windows 8.1 reintroduced the Start button in validation from Microsoft that it had failed.

The Windows 8 era will be one Microsoft even with the Windows 8.1 update developments, also, lots of its customers are going to be disposed to forget about it.

In an attempt to update Windows in opposition to iPad competition, it turned out that Microsoft isolated countless of its devout customers instead. Arriving in 2015, Windows 10 withdrew many of Windows 8’s bravest changes, and Windows 11 has gone even further by clearing the Windows Phone-like Live Tiles from the Start menu and modernising many of the ancient remains that have belonged to Windows for centuries.

The decision is now left for Windows 8.1 users to either upgrade their operating system or purchase a new PC. Microsoft has acknowledged that owing to Windows 8.1 machine's strict CPU requirements, it won't even support Windows 11.

Explaining in a support note, Microsoft said,

“Most Windows 8.1 or Windows 8 devices will not meet the hardware requirements for upgrading to Windows 11, as an alternative, compatible Windows 8 and 8.1 PCs can be upgraded to Windows 10 by purchasing and installing a full version of the Software.”

That leaves Windows 10 as the seeming upgrade path, which until October 14, 2025, will continue to be supported.

On January 10, 2023, the Windows 8.1 machines won’t stop functioning all of a sudden. Although it'd be a big risk if users keep running the OS next year without updating the software and security fixes.

Microsoft’s support site has a bunch of FAQs and articles to help Windows 8.1 users upgrade or move files to a new machine.

If you'd be needing help with moving your files to a new machine or with the Windows 8.1 upgrade, check Microsoft's support site — it has lots of FAQs and articles that would assist.

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Daniel John 35
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