Microsoft announced earlier this month that it won't provide Windows 8.1 customers with a similar offer. Organizations who have devices with ESU can protect the devices for another three years. The extension gives organizations that time. Organizations may require more time to move to a new version of Windows, or another operating system.

It makes sense to extend support if the numbers are close to real usage numbers. Windows 11, Microsoft's newest operating system, sits at 10.96%, which makes Windows 7 the second most used version of Windows according to the company. Statcounter, one of the third-party companies that is tracking usage statistics, sees it at 11.54% of the Windows market share. Windows 7 holds a sizeable share of the desktop operating system market. Microsoft has not confirmed or denied the extension of Windows 7 ESU. Bypasses exist to install Microsoft's official updates on Windows 7 Home devices, including Windows 7 Home and Professional. ESU updates can only be installed officially on licensed machines. Microsoft released the monthly and security-only cumulative updates for Windows 7 ESU systems as part of the July 2022 Patch Day. Microsoft creates updates for the following Windows 7 editions as part of the extended security updates program: The second extension would guarantee support of Windows 7 until January 2026. Our colleagues over at Deskmodder report that the July security updates KB5015861 and KB5015862 include the required ESU licenses and keys to extend support beyond the first three years. Microsoft's initial plan was to limit extended support to three years after support end, but it appears that the company could extend support by another three years, making it six years in total.

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