microsoft, windows defender, windows 10, anniversary update

Microsoft has decided to end support for the original version of Windows 10.  Version 1507, which was released to the public back in July 2015, will no longer be supported by the company. This change affects Home, Education, Pro, and Enterprise editions.

Interestingly, hardly anyone uses version 1507. In case you want to check if you are one of the few, simply type winver into the search box on the taskbar and voila! You shall be rewarded with a About Windows dialog box that will display which windows version you currently have installed on your computer.

So this is more of a reminder for the last few people who have not upgraded, than anything else. Microsoft has always positioned Windows 10 as a service and as such, it will only be able to deliver the best to its customers if they keep upgrading alongside Microsoft. The company has released three major upgrades so far including one in November, another Anniversary edition and a final, creators update.

Announcing that it was ending support for version 1507, Microsoft said:

For most consumers, both quality and feature updates are delivered automatically according to their Windows Update settings. By policy, devices need to install the latest feature update within a 60-day grace period of its release to continue to be eligible for monthly servicing with security updates and other quality updates. We extended this grace period for version 1507 beyond this typical 60-day policy, but the time has now come to end servicing for version 1507.

The company will still keep updating the operating system for a minimum of 10 years. That is what the company’s official policy dictates for a minimum period of 10 years. While mainstream support will end in October 2020, extended support for Windows 10 will end on October 14, 2025. However, the later versions of Windows 10 are likely to continue being supported for a couple of years longer yet.

Do note though, that extended support only consists of the essential security updates. Mainstream support on the other hand, also include free incident support, warranty claims, fixes for non-security and security bugs, design changes and feature request.

Meanwhile, if you do have version 1507, now might be a good time to turn updates on and upgrade to a new version.

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