It’s no secret that Windows 7 is nearing end of life, with mainstream support already ending as of January 13th 2015, and extended support ending January 14th 2020. But with the general compatibility options, including “Windows XP Mode” built into the operating system, many corporations world wide still rely on Windows 7 for their operations.
Much like the end of support for Windows XP, Microsoft announced that they will be offering a paid support contract for Windows 7 that will only include security updates. This is in an effort to give businesses time to migrate to Windows 10, or at least Windows 8. There is no specific pricing released, only that the pricing is by machine and could vary depending on the volume of machines to be supported under contract.
For the average consumer, the best thing to do is update to a newer version of Windows, at least Windows 8, but of course moving to Windows 10 would give you more time under support. If you’re looking to upgrade your Windows 7 installation to 10, you can get either the download installation or a USB installation from Amazon (Price varies, depending on what you pick). Click here for Windows 10 from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2QhdxTo
If you’d like to learn more about the Microsoft Windows Support Lifecycle, Microsoft has a dedicated page which can be found here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13853/windows-lifecycle-fact-sheet
