Life Cycle for Windows 8 and 8.1?

How long is the life cycle for Windows 8 and 8.1? If I recall correctly, I remember it not being very long.

Windows 8.x support ends in January of 2016. Windows 8.1 is supported until January of 2023.

That's awful early.

Windows 8.x support ends in January of 2016.

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That's too soon compared to the time that older versions support lasted !

williamsjesse17 said:

That's awful early.

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Only if you one of the unlucky ones and your CPU/motherboard supports 8 but not 8.1. New Windows 8.1 requirements strand some users on Windows 8 | PCWorld

8.1 was a free upgrade to 8.0, and while not technically called a service pack it's lifecycle is exactly the same as a service pack would have received (24 months from release, you must be on the service pack - in this case. 8.0 to 8.1). When viewed in that light, it's identical to, say, Windows 7 RTM 24 months after Windows 7 SP1 released - after 24 months from the SP1 release, no more updates were available to Windows 7 RTM users.

I'm not sure why this is considered "early", unless you indeed got caught by the hardware changes to Windows 8.1 on older AMD hardware and require a 64bit version of Windows 8.1 (32bit versions aren't hit with the AMD hardware issue, as it only affects the use of x64 OSes).

Hi there
Judging by the initial reports of W8 / W8.1 you would have assumed that Ms will kill it off as fast as possible. I'm actually surprised that W8.1 will still be around till 2023.

I do expect though provided the price is OK the takeup of W10 will be quite large so it won't be long until W8.1 will become a niche product rather like VISTA which even today still has a few devotees - why not as some like the aero glass etc and modern hardware runs it quite OK.

W10 IMO will do exceptionally well especially as some of us predicted the laptop market is for the first time for a while beginning to look up again while basic slabs (smaller tablets) have seen sales fall quite sharply.

(Convertibles though are doing well).

Cheers
jimbo

cluberti said:

...32bit versions aren't hit with the AMD hardware issue, as it only affects the use of x64 OSes).

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Wouldn't a x64 W8 user be able - if they can stomach the extra cost - be able use a 32bit version of W8.1 instead and get a bit more life out of their older system?

stringjunky said:

Wouldn't a x64 W8 user be able - if they can stomach the extra cost - be able use a 32bit version of W8.1 instead and get a bit more life out of their older system?

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Yes. And there is no extra cost.

adamf said:

stringjunky said:

Wouldn't a x64 W8 user be able - if they can stomach the extra cost - be able use a 32bit version of W8.1 instead and get a bit more life out of their older system?

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Yes. And there is no extra cost.

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That's cool. All hope is not lost for them. I do think that some people have unrealistic expectations of how long systems should be supported for, given the rate of development in computer devices ...protocols and standards are evolving all the time aren't they?

Windows lifecycle
Windows lifecycle fact sheet - Windows Help

Just pasting the contents of the link that Nuccii provided in last post.

[FONT=WOL_Reg][FONT=WOL_Bold]End of support[/FONT] refers to the date when Microsoft no longer provides automatic fixes, updates, or online technical assistance. This is the time to make sure you have the latest available update or service pack installed. Without Microsoft support, you will no longer receive security updates that can help protect your PC from harmful viruses, spyware, and other malicious software that can steal your personal information. For more information go to Microsoft Support Lifecycle .[/FONT]
[FONT=WOL_Reg]

Client operating systems	Latest update or service pack	End of mainstream support	End of extended support
[FONT=WOL_Bold]Windows XP[/FONT]	Service Pack 3	April 14, 2009	April 8, 2014
[FONT=WOL_Bold]Windows Vista[/FONT]	Service Pack 2	April 10, 2012	April 11, 2017
[FONT=WOL_Bold]Windows 7 *[/FONT]	Service Pack 1	January 13, 2015	January 14, 2020
[FONT=WOL_Bold]Windows 8[/FONT]	Windows 8.1	January 9, 2018	January 10, 2023

[/FONT]
[FONT=WOL_Reg]* Support for Windows 7 RTM without service packs ended on April 9, 2013. Be sure to install Windows 7 Service Pack 1 today to continue to receive support and updates.[/FONT]

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No. I am not running on old hardware. The computer is brand new. It came preloaded with Windows 8.1. Then, shortly after I got it, the 8.1 Update came out.

williamsjesse17 said:

No. I am not running on old hardware. The computer is brand new. It came preloaded with Windows 8.1. Then, shortly after I got it, the 8.1 Update came out.

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And yet you think 2023 is

williamsjesse17 said:

.. awful early

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You must live on another planet to me man

EDIT: Anyway you've got about 3000 days so if you can start saving lets say $0.20 a day you'll be OK (Assuming you can get a new PC for $600 in the year 2023 of course)