Microsoft stops sales of Windows 7 and 8.1 OEM licenses

Scorpus

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Microsoft is now all-in on Windows 10. The company has stopped selling OEM licenses of Windows 7 Professional and Windows 8.1 to manufacturing partners, effectively restricting all new systems to Microsoft's latest operating system.

Microsoft's partners have had some time to prepare for the end of Windows 7 and 8.1 OEM sales as the dates have been available in Microsoft's lifecycle fact sheet for years. Most companies don't even bother selling products pre-loaded with older versions of Windows, particularly as most consumers want the latest software anyway.

The end of sales for Windows 7 Professional comes a full two years after sales ended for Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium and Ultimate. Windows 8 sales ended a few months ago, and Microsoft has been quick to end sales of Windows 8.1 shortly afterwards. Currently, Windows 10 does not have an end of sales date.

While you can no longer purchase systems with Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 pre-installed, Microsoft is still supporting both operating systems for many more years. Windows 7 is currently in its extended support phase, and will receive security patches until 2020. Windows 8.1 is in mainstream support until 2018, after which it will enter the extended support period until 2023.

There is some good news for those that desperately want a Windows 7 Professional or Windows 8.1 license: some retailers like Newegg are still stocking official OEM licenses. However, once stock runs out, that's pretty much it for older versions of Windows.

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It's a shame the only way they can get people to use Windows 10 is by force. Then they brag about adoption rates.
It's more of a shame people cling to an outdated OS when the replacement is superior in most and equal in all other ways. It would be more understandable had the update not been free.

But I'm assuming you were referring to win7 not 8 because there was so little support for 8, right?
 
It's a shame the only way they can get people to use Windows 10 is by force. Then they brag about adoption rates.
It's more of a shame people cling to an outdated OS when the replacement is superior in most and equal in all other ways. It would be more understandable had the update not been free.

But I'm assuming you were referring to win7 not 8 because there was so little support for 8, right?

Careful, newer doesn's always mean better. Particularly when newer is a blatant cynical attempt to cash grab by switching from product-based business to a service-based business. Why only charge customers for $120 for an OS they'll use for 10 years when you can milk them for $40 per year on a subscription model? Nothing like a short-term swindle at the expense of your long-term business and enterprise customers to drive a company forward.

But back to the point at hand, Win7 was still available OEM? Does anybody have laptop recommendations with a decent GPU?
 
It's a shame the only way they can get people to use Windows 10 is by force. Then they brag about adoption rates.
it's like this hasn't happened with every single other windows release in the past. why are people so quick to make comments like this?
besides the few update quirks that annoy people, windows 10 is pretty much superior to windows 7 in every single way. (productivity, performance, stability, features, etc)

they already extended OEM sales for win 7 because of win 8. there is no need to do it again.
 
Careful, newer doesn's always mean better. Particularly when newer is a blatant cynical attempt to cash grab by switching from product-based business to a service-based business. Why only charge customers for $120 for an OS they'll use for 10 years when you can milk them for $40 per year on a subscription model? Nothing like a short-term swindle at the expense of your long-term business and enterprise customers to drive a company forward.

But back to the point at hand, Win7 was still available OEM? Does anybody have laptop recommendations with a decent GPU?
There's no evidence that will occur so right now that's just fear mongering (along with everyone's "Privacy Issues" with Windows 10). Windows 7 is nearly 10 years old so when support ends you'll be stuck paying $120 for a supported license anyway.

As to the laptop recommendation anything with a GTX 10XX series will have as close to desktop performance as any mobile GPU has before. Just make sure to get Windows 10 otherwise you won't have DX12 support.

Here's a review less than a month old of a MSI product on this site.

Pros: The GTX 1060 is perfect for 1080p, packing 50% more punch than the GTX 970M. Great brushed aluminium design. Thunderbolt 3 and a SteelSeries keyboard are decent inclusions.

Cons: The poor ELAN trackpad has been retained. Fans are loud under heavy load.
 
It's a shame the only way they can get people to use Windows 10 is by force. Then they brag about adoption rates.
it's like this hasn't happened with every single other windows release in the past. why are people so quick to make comments like this?
besides the few update quirks that annoy people, windows 10 is pretty much superior to windows 7 in every single way. (productivity, performance, stability, features, etc)

they already extended OEM sales for win 7 because of win 8. there is no need to do it again.
Really? I must have missed when MS pushed malware-like update screens to windows 7 machines trying to upgrade them to windows 8.

And stability does not describe windows 10, where every major update seems to break something, whether it be Ethernet, wireless, GPU drivers, webcams, ece.
 
Windows 10 is not "superior in every way", in fact it many ways it's much worse.

The reasons for me include software that just does not work properly on 10 whereas it works perfectly on 7. Privacy issues galore, just run "shutup 10" to get an idea of all the data you're providing them with on a daily basis.

Then there is hardware, I have 2 brand new higher end machines built in 2016 and each has a USB 3.0 mystery problem in Device manager, which don't exist when 7 was installed instead. I don't accept the "it's their fault" it doesn't work blaming hardware and software providers, I blame MS, you want me on your new OS, make damn sure it works or at least pretend to be interested in more than your bottom lines.

I'm just glad there are tools still around to help with this. Heavy handed and deceptive tactics combined with a bug ridden product for the first two years does not install confidence to me, if you like it, that's great, but understand other people don't want or care about the new "features", but keeping cheering for less choice for no reason, it's entertaining.
 
Really? I must have missed when MS pushed malware-like update screens to windows 7 machines trying to upgrade them to windows 8.

And stability does not describe windows 10, where every major update seems to break something, whether it be Ethernet, wireless, GPU drivers, webcams, ece.
I think you are confusing bugs with something else. most of these things got fixes fast anyway. when I say stability I'm talking about OS crashes and the ability to recover from those crashes.
 
Windows 10 is not "superior in every way", in fact it many ways it's much worse.

The reasons for me include software that just does not work properly on 10 whereas it works perfectly on 7. Privacy issues galore, just run "shutup 10" to get an idea of all the data you're providing them with on a daily basis.

Then there is hardware, I have 2 brand new higher end machines built in 2016 and each has a USB 3.0 mystery problem in Device manager, which don't exist when 7 was installed instead. I don't accept the "it's their fault" it doesn't work blaming hardware and software providers, I blame MS, you want me on your new OS, make damn sure it works or at least pretend to be interested in more than your bottom lines.

I'm just glad there are tools still around to help with this. Heavy handed and deceptive tactics combined with a bug ridden product for the first two years does not install confidence to me, if you like it, that's great, but understand other people don't want or care about the new "features", but keeping cheering for less choice for no reason, it's entertaining.
did you know that you might find some tin foil hats for sale during black friday?
 
Windows 10 is not "superior in every way", in fact it many ways it's much worse.

The reasons for me include software that just does not work properly on 10 whereas it works perfectly on 7. Privacy issues galore, just run "shutup 10" to get an idea of all the data you're providing them with on a daily basis.

Then there is hardware, I have 2 brand new higher end machines built in 2016 and each has a USB 3.0 mystery problem in Device manager, which don't exist when 7 was installed instead. I don't accept the "it's their fault" it doesn't work blaming hardware and software providers, I blame MS, you want me on your new OS, make damn sure it works or at least pretend to be interested in more than your bottom lines.

I'm just glad there are tools still around to help with this. Heavy handed and deceptive tactics combined with a bug ridden product for the first two years does not install confidence to me, if you like it, that's great, but understand other people don't want or care about the new "features", but keeping cheering for less choice for no reason, it's entertaining.
did you know that you might find some tin foil hats for sale during black friday?
Nah, you can tell he is a DIY kind of guy, best to buy that foil in bulk so he can make as many hats as he wants. :p

I must be lucky since I've had several builds, both with newer and older hardware and I've yet to have any driver issues/bugs, or issues after an update. I do turn off a lot of telemetry but it's more against features I don't use, otherwise I don't drive myself crazy about it. Other than figuring out where they moved settings around and being able to right click a preview pane to move that window to another display, my experience with Windows 10 has been mostly positive.
 
Windows 10 is not "superior in every way", in fact it many ways it's much worse.

The reasons for me include software that just does not work properly on 10 whereas it works perfectly on 7. Privacy issues galore, just run "shutup 10" to get an idea of all the data you're providing them with on a daily basis.

Then there is hardware, I have 2 brand new higher end machines built in 2016 and each has a USB 3.0 mystery problem in Device manager, which don't exist when 7 was installed instead. I don't accept the "it's their fault" it doesn't work blaming hardware and software providers, I blame MS, you want me on your new OS, make damn sure it works or at least pretend to be interested in more than your bottom lines.

I'm just glad there are tools still around to help with this. Heavy handed and deceptive tactics combined with a bug ridden product for the first two years does not install confidence to me, if you like it, that's great, but understand other people don't want or care about the new "features", but keeping cheering for less choice for no reason, it's entertaining.
Your hardware issues are the manufacturers fault, not MS whether you don't want to be told that or not.

If you're having trouble with software the compatibility mode in Windows 10 should solve that issue unless the software vendor hasn't supported it well and again that's not MS fault, it's the vendor's. I'd be willing to wager that software has an update that works well but it's not free.

"Privacy" issues are a red herring in any argument with Windows. Not only can you turn anything you find offensive off but every other widely adopted OS, mobile or desktop, is gathering personal information and collecting it. If you're that concerned create a fake MS account and turn it all off.
 
It's a shame the only way they can get people to use Windows 10 is by force. Then they brag about adoption rates.
It's more of a shame people cling to an outdated OS when the replacement is superior in most and equal in all other ways. It would be more understandable had the update not been free.

But I'm assuming you were referring to win7 not 8 because there was so little support for 8, right?

On a personal level, I am fine with Win10, I've updated my gaming rig to it and have a nice 2-in-1 laptop that runs it smooth as silk.

On a professional level, having no option but Win10 is a nightmare. It sometimes plays nice with Win7 machines (but often doesn't), has so many stupid "dumbed down" changes that hide features and functions that make supporting it a pain... My friends in IT support are going to need a lot more beer in their near future.
 
It's a shame the only way they can get people to use Windows 10 is by force. Then they brag about adoption rates.
It's more of a shame people cling to an outdated OS when the replacement is superior in most and equal in all other ways. It would be more understandable had the update not been free.

But I'm assuming you were referring to win7 not 8 because there was so little support for 8, right?

On a personal level, I am fine with Win10, I've updated my gaming rig to it and have a nice 2-in-1 laptop that runs it smooth as silk.

On a professional level, having no option but Win10 is a nightmare. It sometimes plays nice with Win7 machines (but often doesn't), has so many stupid "dumbed down" changes that hide features and functions that make supporting it a pain... My friends in IT support are going to need a lot more beer in their near future.

IT Admin here as well: We adapted to win10 about a week after its release. Re-coding was minimal. IMO, no one should have been still sitting on an older OS, without having some some sort of plan to adapt to future OS's.
 
IT Admin here as well: We adapted to win10 about a week after its release. Re-coding was minimal. IMO, no one should have been still sitting on an older OS, without having some some sort of plan to adapt to future OS's.

Indeed, the problem is those companies who didn't want to bite the bullet and jump when it was a free transition, and now they're going to end up with either a huge bill to changeover, or a patchwork network with all new systems coming in as Win10. Seems like those "mix n match" networks are where most of my buddies in IT pull their hair out the most. Heh.
 
What's a shame is Microsoft not caring about the reasons why people cling to older operating systems and force change for the sake of change.
Would those same users clinging to old OS's be willing to pay for updates? It might be less about care and more about costs. If you think they should patch indefinitely for "free," what should someone be willing to pay for a new OS? They have to make up the money somehow.
 
Would those same users clinging to old OS's be willing to pay for updates? It might be less about care and more about costs. If you think they should patch indefinitely for "free," what should someone be willing to pay for a new OS? They have to make up the money somehow.
I'm not sure how you are confused about what I said. Microsoft can make new OS's without making changes that make the user want to cling to an older OS. I'm willing to bet that the user interface that the user clings to the most never needs updating at all. I'm also willing to bet that the user interface of the last 6 operating systems could have been added to Windows 10 with little effort and no ill effect toward security.
 
I'm not sure how you are confused about what I said. Microsoft can make new OS's without making changes that make the user want to cling to an older OS. I'm willing to bet that the user interface that the user clings to the most never needs updating at all. I'm also willing to bet that the user interface of the last 6 operating systems could have been added to Windows 10 with little effort and no ill effect toward security.
It's not that, it was too vaguely implied. That's a good idea.
 
not sure about what things people are "clinging" to. care to give an example?
No because I have given examples ever since Windows 8 was released, and you are one of those that ignore and continue to ask for the same responses.
 
On a personal level, I am fine with Win10, I've updated my gaming rig to it and have a nice 2-in-1 laptop that runs it smooth as silk.

On a professional level, having no option but Win10 is a nightmare. It sometimes plays nice with Win7 machines (but often doesn't), has so many stupid "dumbed down" changes that hide features and functions that make supporting it a pain... My friends in IT support are going to need a lot more beer in their near future.
Professionally we still use 7 as well. The migration to 10 is a while down the road but users are locked out of nearly all options; changing features and functions is not really allowed. I don't know the back end issues with policies, etc. but for the end-user it won't make much of a difference.

I was speaking mainly to home users though - I should have clarified that from the beginning. I agree that any new OS will present new issues in an enterprise setting.
 
It's more of a shame people cling to an outdated OS when the replacement is superior in most and equal in all other ways. It would be more understandable had the update not been free.

But I'm assuming you were referring to win7 not 8 because there was so little support for 8, right?
Yeah, why do people refrain from installing the best version of Windows which restarts when it wants for updates and can clog your internet connection when doing so, also has 2 control panels, ads, UI inconsistencies and spies on you like a big brother?
 
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