Microsoft released Windows 7 back in 2009 and, despite the fact that arrived two years ago, its elder brother still holds more than half of the global operating system market. Unfortunately, mainstream support for this notorious operating system ended yesterday, but Microsoft will cease to provide any form of update to Windows 7 in early 2020.
Since the release of Windows 7 and until yesterday, Microsoft has provided free security and non-security updates, as well as telephone support. Since the product has just entered its extended support period, it will only get free security updates. Luckily, the downgrade rights remain the same so anyone with a new Wndows 8 PC will be able to easily slide down to Windows 7 Professional or Vista Business.
With Windows 10 knocking at the door, the future looks grim for Windows 7. Microsoft already announced that Windows 10 will come with DirectX 12 as part of the operating system, the same way that Windows 7 integrated DirectX 10. Obviously, Windows 7 will not receive a DirectX 12 update, so gamers will be forced to move on to Windows 10. We will surely hear more about the upcoming Windows version, so stay tuned.