Microsoft discontinues retail sales of Windows 7

With only a simple notice buried in a chart on the Microsoft life cycle fact sheet, Microsoft has ended retail sales of their most widely used operating system.  Windows 7 reached the end of retail sales on October 30, 2013, with absolutely no fanfare.  End of retail sales is a virtually meaningless landmark, as the operating system is still available through many retail sites, like Amazon and Newegg, and if you have a computer made by one of the big OEM companies, you can obtain Windows 7 through them until October of 2014.  But Microsoft no longer has Windows 7 for sale in their online store.

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Copies of the operating system will still be available from those retailers who stock up beforehand, but if the demand remains high, prices will follow.

The October 2014 cutoff for OEM's is probably a more important date, as the supply from Microsoft to the OEM companies will be cut off for good.  Computers sold with Windows 8 Pro will still have downgrade rights, so OEM's will still be able to sell systems with Windows 8 Pro operating system and switch those in the factory to Windows 7 for their customers. So that is one loophole that may  become popular.  Enterprise customers also have downgrade rights, so there is little chance of those businesses losing access to Windows 7.

You can read more on the story at Computerworld.

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