Microsoft to end support for Windows 7 in 2020, users may be forced to upgrade

If you are a Windows 7 user, Satya Nadella-led software-maker Microsoft just gave you a deadline of a year.

In a blog post, the company has said that it is going to stop providing any support to Windows 7 after 14 January 2020. 

"All good things must come to an end, even Windows 7. After 14 January 2020, Microsoft will no longer provide security updates or support for PCs running Windows 7," the blog post said. 

This means that the company will stop sending out free security patches for the operating system and, after the announced date, will leave users vulnerable to security risks. The company had earlier stopped rolling out mainstream support for the operating system in January 2015.

It also means that users will have to either upgrade their operating system or switch to a new one. But rest assured, users will be able to install and run Windows 7 without any issues.

In the same blog post, the company suggests that users "can keep the good times rolling by moving to Windows 10". It also suggests that users of Windows 7 can upgrade to Windows 10 if their PCs or systems meet requirements for running the operating system and with a full licence.

Earlier, Microsoft was offering a free upgrade to Windows 10 for a year and a user can still upgrade to a working version of Windows 10, which doesn't include many features. 

The company further said that Microsoft 365 Business comes with a free upgrade for users with a Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 Pro licence on their device. "By purchasing Microsoft 365 Business, your users can upgrade all of their old Windows Pro licensed devices at no additional cost," it said as part of the blog post.