Microsoft Extends Support for Windows 7 and 8.1 on Skylake PCs

Back in January, Microsoft revealed that it would only support Windows 7 and 8.1 on a subset of Intel Skylake-based PCs, and then only through July 17, 2017. Today, it is adjusting that schedule, extending the support for one more year.

“We’ve received feedback from customers at various stages of planning and deployment of Windows 10,” Microsoft general manager Jeremy Korst explains in a new post to the Windows for IT Pros blog. “Led by their feedback, today we are sharing a few updates to our Skylake support policy.”

And those updates are:

More time for standard support. “To help provide greater flexibility for customers who have longer deployment time frames” for Windows 10, Microsoft is extending the support period for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 devices on Skylake systems by one year, from July 17, 2017 to July 17, 2018.

The normal OS extended support timelines will now apply. After July 2018, all critical Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 security updates will be addressed for Skylake systems until extended support ends. That’s January 14, 2020 for Windows 7, and January 10, 2023 for Windows 8.1.

“This guidance is designed to help our customers purchase modern hardware with confidence, while continuing to manage their migrations to Windows 10,” Korst notes. “As our customers upgrade to Windows 10 on Skylake devices, they can benefit from the latest capabilities that come from modern hardware and software.”

So not as horrible as originally announced. But still a big departure from the original support plans for Windows 7 and 8.1, and still a guide for how Microsoft will support new silicon moving forward.