Microsoft looks set to extend Windows 7 support for another three years

Microsoft ended support for its Windows 7 operating system in 2020. The company provides extended support to organizations and businesses, but not home customers.

Microsoft's original plan was to extend support for three years after support ends, but it appears the company could extend support for another three years, for a total of six years.

Our colleagues at Deskmodder reported that the July security updates KB5015861 and KB5015862 include the required ESU licenses and keys to bring Support extends beyond the first three years. The second extension will guarantee support for Windows 7 until January 2026.

Microsoft creates updates for the following versions of Windows 7 as part of the Extended Security Update Program:

• Windows 7 SP1 Enterprise Edition
• Windows 7 SP1 Professional Edition
• Windows Server 2008 R2
• Windows Embedded Standard 7
• Windows Embedded POS Ready 7

Microsoft releases as part of July 2022 Patch Days Monthly and security-only cumulative updates for Windows 7 ESU systems. ESU updates can only be officially installed on licensed machines. A bypass exists for installing official updates from Microsoft on Windows 7 Home devices, including Windows 7 Home and Professional.

Microsoft has not confirmed or denied the Windows 7 ESU extension. Windows 7 holds a significant share of the desktop operating system market. Statcounter, one of the third-party companies that tracks usage statistics, believes it has 11.54% of the Windows market share. Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 11, has a usage rate of 10.96%, which according to the company makes Windows 7 the second most commonly used version of Windows.

Extended support makes sense if the numbers are close to actual usage numbers. Organizations may need more time to migrate to new versions of Windows or other operating systems. The extension provides time for the organization. Organizations with ESU devices can protect the devices for an additional three years.

Microsoft announced earlier this month that it would not offer a similar offer to Windows 8.1 customers. According to Statcounter, Windows 8.1 has less than 3% usage share, although it is still officially supported.

If support for Windows 7 is extended for another three years, it means the operating system will be supported longer than its immediate successors, Windows 8.1 and even Windows 10. Both operating systems will end support by 2026. Microsoft can provide extensions that support Windows 10, which is the most commonly used version of Windows at the time of writing.

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