The most crucial deadline: the end of extended support. From this date, the publisher no longer develops and no longer releases any security updates. This is an opportunity for pirates and hackers, likely to target this abandoned operating system.
To put it another way, an old computer running an old version of Windows is vulnerable as soon as it connects to the Internet. In the line of fire: viruses, malware, malicious software, Trojan horses…
Windows 8.1 vulnerable since January 10, 2023
This has been the case for PCs equipped with Windows 8.1 since January 10, 2023. This unloved edition no longer benefits from extended support since this date. How to react on your laptop or desktop PC powered by Windows 8.1?
If the machine never connects to the Internet, the risks are almost non-existent. Otherwise, it is necessary to change the operating system, towards a platform that continues to receive security updates.
Unfortunately, as Microsoft points out, a Windows 8.1 computer will not be technically fit to migrate to Windows 11, the latest version of Windows.
“Most Windows 8.1 or Windows 8 devices will not meet the hardware requirements for upgrading to Windows 11,” Microsoft concedes. “As an alternative, Windows 8 and 8.1 compatible PCs can be upgraded to Windows 10 by purchasing and installing a full version of the software. Before investing in an upgrade to Windows 10, please consider that Windows 10 will no longer be supported starting October 14, 2025.”
Another possibility: desert the world of Microsoft and Windows, adopt a free and free distribution of Linux.
Windows 7 condemned since January 14, 2020, but…
Incredibly popular to the point of pushing Microsoft to extend its life cycle, Windows 7 is no longer in the extended support regime since January 14, 2020. That’s for the commercial version of the operating system, intended for Mr. Everyone. But a whole series of companies have continued to benefit from security updates over the past three years through the program called Extended Security Update.
This exceptional extension also ended on January 12, 2023.