Important: support for Windows 8.1 will end on 10 January 2023.
While support for Windows 8 ended in January 2016, Windows 8.1 has continued to be supported, but this will be ending next January. Here’s what that means for you and your business, and your options.
Windows 8.1 accounts for less than 1% of computers within our customer networks. That being said it only takes one vulnerable machine in order to suffer a cyber-incident so please read on.
What is it and what does it mean?
When support ends, it means that Microsoft no longer develops updates, including security patches. If you continue to use unsupported software your cyber risks starts to rise as vulnerabilities and bugs are found in the software which Microsoft will no longer patch or fix. To avoid these risks and keep up-to-date (Windows 8.1 was released nearly 10 years ago!) we recommend upgrading to Windows 11 which is Microsoft’s latest version.
The benefits of updating your software
It’s best practice to keep your software up to date to help prevent known vulnerabilities from being exploited and keep your business safe. Updates will also often contain new features, fixes for bugs and performance improvements. All this will help your business to run smoothly.
Do you need to upgrade your laptops and PCs?
Most Windows 8.1 won’t meet the hardware requirements to upgrade to Windows 11. In general PC hardware has come a long way in the last 10-or-so-years but there are also some specific hardware features you need for Windows 11. In most cases it will make sense to upgrade your PCs in order to run Windows 11 but your account manager can provide a detailed summary along with proposed actions.
Other items nearing (or past) end of support
- SQL Server 2012 (12th July 2022)
- Microsoft Azure AD Sync v1 (31st August 2022)
- Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 (10th October 2023)
Talk to us
We’ll be contacting clients who still have Windows 8.1 machines in due course with options to upgrade. If you think you might have some Windows 8.1 machines or you’re simply not sure then give your account manager a call and we’ll be happy to help.
