It's the end of the road for Windows 7/8/8.1 and Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R23

The End of The Road

What we knew would happen has finally happened. Support for Windows 7, 8, 8.1, Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R23 has finally come to an end. But what does that mean for pre-Windows 10 users? It isn't just Windows that will not be updated. Losing support for Windows means that programs and apps will also not support these operating systems. So let's start with what it means for Windows.

Windows Updates

Windows updates will no longer be developed. This means there will be no more security updates, service packs or improvements, including those for bugs and annoying Windows idiosyncracies. While this may not be too much of a problem for some, it is a major headache for others as future development of programs and apps switch to newer versions of Windows.

Browsers

Internet Explorer has not been supported for a while now, but Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome will not be supported. You will have to upgrade to Windows 10 or Windows 11 for them to update, and this causes another problem for users. The older versions of some browsers may not support the latest versions of HTML and PHP code which will stop some websites working properly.

Chrome 109 will be the last version of Google Chrome that will support Windows 7, 8 and 8.1. This will also be the case XWindows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2. On February 7th 2023 Google have hinted that Chrome 110 will be released for Windows 10 and 11. Future releases will only be available for Windows 10 and Windows 11. There will be no changes to older versions of Google Chrome but they will no longer update.

Microsoft ended support for Edge version 109 on January 10th 2023. In order to upgrade to the latest version of Edge you will need to be on Windows 10 or above. Mozilla FireFox is not unsupported at this time.

Apps and Programs

Your apps and programs stay the same, but they may not be updated. It is impossible to list all of the programs and apps out there, but it is fair to say that if you want the latest version of your apps then you will most likely need to upgrade your version of Windows. For example, some games with multiplayer funcionality may not support online gaming due to incompatibility. However, some games may not run well if you upgrade due to the power of your system.

There may be problems with upgrading as you may find that older programs are not supported by newer operating systems. This could be especially difficult for businesses which use specialist software.

Need help with upgrading your version of Windows? You can find help here.