Microsoft has issued a warning that they will halt mainstream support for Windows 7 in six months. After that timeframe the OS will go into extended support, this also applies to Office 2010 SP1 and all Windows Server 2008 versions. These all have mainstream support, including the five-year period of free updates such as security patches and new functionality.

The products are now entering the phase of extended support, which only entails free security updates, no new functionality is added. Further extensions and patches may be but these would have to be paid for.

Mainstream support for Windows 7 Starter, Home Premium, Ultimate, Professional and Enterprise stops on January 13, 2015. The N-variants and Service Pack 1 installation are irrelevant to the expiry of the deadline. The extended support from Microsoft will halt at on 14 January 2020.

Office 2010 Service Pack 1 mainstream support ends October 14, 2014, Windows Server 2008 similar and thus Windows 7, January 13, 2015.

The next version of Windows that will come to a grinding hlat support wise is Windows Vista, it reached EOL on April 11th, 2017. Support for Windows 8 halts completely on January 10, 2023

Microsoft warns it will halt mainstream support for Windows 7