Over the years, we have seen different versions of Windows, Microsoft’s Operating System. Windows is the widely used Operating System and has evolved to what we have today, Windows 10.
Before Windows 10, we had Windows 8 and Windows 8.1. These were not popular versions of the OS as they were seen to be very different from earlier versions such as Windows 7. Most people did not want to upgrade to Windows 8 or 8.1 saying that they would rather wait for the next version which at that time was not in active development.
With the release of Windows 10, some people still decided to stick with Windows 7 as it still works and they had no reason to ditch it. If you are still one of those still using Windows 7, Microsoft will start informing you that the operating system is nearing its end-of-support date. This warning will come 10 months shy of the OS hitting its 10th anniversary.
According to Microsoft, the warning will start appearing in April to those who still have Windows 7 installed on their PCs. The notification will keep popping up a few times throughout the year (2019) making sure people do not forget but there will be a way to switch it off if you do not want to receive the warning anymore. Keep in mind that January 14, 2020 is when Microsoft will officially stop supporting Windows 7.
By pushing this warning, Microsoft hopes enough people will decide to upgrade and the best alternative will be Windows 10. Windows 10 was released back in 2015 and when that happened, the company said that its goal was to reach 1 billion installs in just 3 years. Well, this did not happen and the company come out and said it was not going to meet this target but it was still expecting good numbers.
So far, Windows 10 has been installed in over 800 million devices but Microsoft hopes that number will go up significantly this year as it stops maintaining Windows 7. According to NetMarketShare stats, 38% of PCs still run Windows 7. Windows 10 on the other hand has a 40% market share.
“By starting the reminders now, our hope is that you have time to plan and prepare for this transition,” said Matt Barlow, corporate vice president of Windows. “These notifications are designed to help provide information only and, if you would prefer not to receive them again, you’ll be able to select an option for ‘Do not notify me again’, and we will not send you any further reminders.”
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