Microsoft Ends Windows 7 Mainstream Support

As Windows 10 approaches, Microsoft will no longer offer free help and support for the ageing but still popular Windows 7.

Microsoft had announced 13 January 2015, as end of free support for Windows 7.

Happily that doesn't mean your computer is going to automatically break or stop working, but it does mean Microsoft will no longer offer free help and support if you have problems with your Windows 7 software from this point on. No new features will be added either.

Microsoft is keen to move users onto Windows 8 instead -- to find out more, check out our how-tos, troubleshooting, news and reviews of Windows 8. Alternatively, you can wait for Windows 10 later this year.

Windows 7 was released in 2009. It sold over 100 million copies in six months and remains hugely popular. More stable than predecessor Windows Vista and more familiar than its radically redesigned successor Windows 8, version 7 is still estimated to be running half of the world's PCs.