Windows 11, as we've written, takes a decidedly different approach. It's an update loophole that Microsoft has kept open for years now, a byproduct of the company's circa-2015 desire to unify the Windows install base on a single version of the operating system. But technically speaking, there's nothing preventing Windows 10 from installing and activating normally on systems with valid Windows 8 licenses, either with a product key (for retail licenses) or automatically (for PCs sold with Windows 8 preinstalled). Microsoft officially ended its free Windows-8-to-Windows-10 upgrade offer way back in 2016. Any PC that can run Windows 8 tolerably well should be able to do the same with Windows 10. Remaining Windows 8 users who aren't ready to replace their PCs can still buy themselves time by upgrading to Windows 10, which was Microsoft's flagship OS up until less than a year ago and will continue receiving updates until at least October of 2025.

Advertisementįurther Reading Microsoft prepares another major Windows update… for Windows 10 It justifies the continued effort and expense on Microsoft's part in a way that continuing to support the much-less-popular Windows 8 would not. Businesses willing to fork over the money can still get security updates for Windows 7 until 2023, but Windows 7 is still running on 13 percent of all Windows PCs worldwide.

Microsoft says it has no plans to offer ongoing Windows 8.1 security updates to businesses that choose to pay for them, as it has with Windows 7. That January 2023 date does appear to be a hard cutoff. ZDNet says that users will be able to click the notification messages to learn more or dismiss them until after the end-of-support date arrives. Microsoft provided similar end-of-support messages to Windows 7 users when its updates dried up back in January 2020. ZDNet reports that Microsoft will soon begin pushing out notifications to the remaining Windows 8.1 users, warning them that support and security updates will be ending on January 10, 2023, and recommending that they move to a newer operating system (Windows 8.0 support ended in 2016). But for the people still using Windows 8.1, the end of the line is in sight. Further Reading How to upgrade to Windows 11, whether your PC is supported or not Īccording to StatCounter, Windows 8 and 8.1 still account for about 4.3 percent of the Windows install base worldwide, far less than Windows 11, Windows 10, or even Windows 7.

Update win 8.1 to win 10 free