After a delay of two years, it's no longer possible to purchase a PC with Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 from the 31st of October. PC manufacturers will stop selling PCs without Windows 10 by the end of this month.
Next month it's only possible to get a PC with an older Windows version if a store happens to still have them in stock.
It's common for Microsoft to phase out older operating systems and one could argue it's about time for the seven year old Windows 7 too. The end of life of Windows 7 was delayed by 2 years due to the bad reception of Windows 8. Just like how Windows XP was continued for longer than anticipated because of Windows Vista, which was also heavily criticized and never took off.
Business users can still downgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 7, the older OS continues to receive security updates for 3 more years, till the beginning of 2020. It should also still be possible to use an old Windows 7 DVD to install the operating system on a new PC.
Companies with a volume licensing can also continue to install Windows 7 on their PCs, however system builders no longer receive OEM CDs for new PCs.
