Microsoft has decided to stop supporting Windows 7 in its official community forums and a number of other products, but will leave it open so users can talk to each other.
Η Microsoft Answers Community operated by Micrsoft itself. It has many product forums where you can expose your problem and get support from Micrsoft's and a number of third-party dealers.
These forums are very popular, as many users write there on a daily basis. But on Friday, Microsoft in a Communication said it stopped technical support through these forums in a number of its products, namely:
- Windows 7, 8.1, 8.1 RT
- MicroSoft Security Essentials
- Internet Explorer 10
- Office 2010, 2013
- Surface Pro, Surface Pro 2, Surface RT, Surface 2
- Microsport Band (this forum will be locked)
- Mobile devices forum (Microsoft will continue to support the forum under the name "Other Windows mobile devices")
- Zune
The forums will remain available and open to community members, who will still be able to use them to post new queries, topics or answers (with the exception of what will be locked in July of 2018). Micrsoft's staff will continue to monitor them to remove any unwanted messages, but will no longer respond to users when it comes to providing technical support.
It's interesting to note another technician in Micrsoft's support published a similar announcement in the Windows 8.1 forum, underlining that Microsoft is moving into this move for the products that "came to the end of their support".
Microsoft's wording is unclear, as it could mean ending "support" but continuing "extended support" which could be paid support.
On the other hand, for many users, the end of the replies by Micrsoft's technicians is not so much a loss, as many of their solutions are occasionally considered useless. These people who do not work directly for Microsoft but for third-party companies that are hired to offer support usually provide generic solutions that do not help much in the case of complex errors.
It's also important to note that this is not the end of full support for Windows 7. Security updates will continue to be available until January of 2020 so that users who are still running this feature have more than a year and a half to upgrade their devices to a newer system.
Windows 7 has a worldwide share of around 40% on desktops, while Windows 10 respectively is around 35%.
