Microsoft ends support for Windows Vista as Windows 10 Creators Updates becomes available

Today Microsoft has officially ended support for its Windows Vista, its 10 year old operating system. This means there will be no more security updates, leaving the OS vulnerable to viruses and malware.

With the EOL for Vista, Exchange Server 2007, Office Communicator Phone Edition, Office InterConnect 2007, and Microsoft Security Essentials will no longer be available to download, and if already installed will stop receiving virus signatures in the near future. Couple that with the fact that IE9 is no longer receiving updates, and you have a rather compelling reason to move to a supported OS. And while Windows 7 may seem like a viable option, remember that support for that ends in January of 2020, which may seem like a ways away, but is rapidly approaching as we get close to the middle of 2017.

As of March 2017, only 0.72% of users are using Windows Vista, so that doesn’t leave may of you with the need to take that jump. However Windows 7 has 49.42% compared to Windows 10’s 25.36%, so over the next 3 years, Redmond is hoping to take a fair amount of that share over to its newest OS.

However, with every death comes a birth, and that birth is the Windows 10 Creators Update. The update will be a free update to all existing Windows 10 customers. For consumers, Windows 10 Creators Update brings 3D and mixed reality to everyone, native game broadcasting feature powered by BEAM, new features to Microsoft Edge, and much more. For enterprise, it comes with additional security capabilities and privacy tools, and more. Look for Microsoft to notify you of the update on your PC today (hopefully not as much as the Anniversary Update fiasco), or find the update via the Windows Update Assistant.