“Every Windows product has a lifecycle. The lifecycle begins when a product is released and ends when it’s no longer supported. Knowing key dates in this lifecycle helps you make informed decisions about when to upgrade or make other changes to your software.” Quote from Windows lifecycle fact sheet.
If you have Windows XP , Windows 7 and Windows 8 then you are on your own – Microsoft have washed their hands of you. So if a vulnerability comes out now then no-one is likely to fix it for you, making your PC at risk. The same applies to Windows Vista.
Make sure you are as up to date as possible as this will reduce the risk of security issues.
| Client operating systems | Latest update or service pack | End of mainstream support (ie new features may be added until then.) | End of extended support (ie security updates only – no new features) |
| Windows XP | Service Pack 3 | April 14, 2009 | April 8, 2014 |
| Windows Vista | Service Pack 2 | April 10, 2012 | April 11, 2017 |
| Windows 7 | Service Pack 1 | January 13, 2015 | January 14, 2020 |
| Windows 8 | Windows 8.1 | January 9, 2018 | January 10, 2023 |
| Windows 10, released in July 2015 | see below | October 13, 2020 | October 14, 2025 |
Windows 10
If you have Windows 10, make sure you keep up to date as Windows will not be updating the OS name, simply issuing half-yearly updates of ‘versions’. As for the old operating systems these will get out of date.
| Version | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|
| Version 22H2 | Oct 18, 2022 | Oct 14, 2025 |
| Version 21H2 | Nov 16, 2021 | Jun 13, 2023 |
| Version 21H1 | May 18, 2021 | Dec 13, 2022 |
| Version 20H2 | Oct 20, 2020 | May 10, 2022 |
| Version 2004 | May 27, 2020 | Dec 14, 2021 |
| Version 1909 | Nov 12, 2019 | May 11, 2021 |
| Version 1903 | May 21, 2019 | Dec 8, 2020 |
| Version 1809 | Nov 13, 2018 | Nov 10, 2020 |
| Version 1803 | Apr 30, 2018 | Nov 12, 2019 |
| Version 1709 | Oct 17, 2017 | Apr 9, 2019 |
| Version 1703 | Apr 11, 2017 | Oct 9, 2018 |
| Version 1607 | Aug 2, 2016 | Apr 10, 2018 |
| Version 1511 | Nov 10, 2015 | Oct 10, 2017 |
| Version 1507 | Jul 29, 2015 | May 9, 2017 |
Windows 11 us already working through its lifecycle:
| Version | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|
| Version 22H2 | Sep 20, 2022 | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Version 21H2 | Oct 4, 2021 | Oct 10, 2023 |
