Microsoft will begin sending notifications to Windows 8.1 users next month to remind them that their aging operating system will be reaching end of support relatively soon. As noted on an end of support page for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, Microsoft is planning to sunset support for the latter version of the OS on January 10, 2023. The company will no longer provide security updates or technical support for Windows 8.1 after this date. Windows 8.1 was launched in October 2013 to make up for Windows 8’s failings, addressing complaints with new features such as an improved Start screen and visible Start button on the taskbar. Statistics from Statcounter suggest that WIndows 8.1 remains the fourth most popular Windows version, with 3.06% market share. Windows 10 and Windows 11 have captured 71.82% and 10.08%, respectively.
Despite the Windows 8.1 update improvements, the Windows 8 era will be one Microsoft and many of its customers will be keen to forget. Microsoft attempted to modernize Windows in the face of iPad competition, and ended up alienating many of its loyal customers instead. Windows 10 arrived in 2015 and walked back many of Windows 8’s boldest changes, and Windows 11 has gone even further by removing the Windows Phone-like Live Tiles from the Start menu and overhauling many of the ancient relics that have existed in Windows for decades.