A few weeks ago, Microsoft has unveiled the first Technical Preview of Windows 10, finally bringing back desktop features that disappeared with the release of Windows 8. By doing this, the company hopes it can drive mass adoption to the new operating system especially from Windows 7 and Windows XP users, who still represent the majority of Windows users all over the world. And now by discontinuing Windows 7 sales, it will further help drive consumers to Windows 10. Ending Windows 7 sales today fits in with the typical schedule Microsoft is using. The company usually pulls OEM supply of an OS a year after it removes it from retail. Thus, Microsoft cut off the retail supply of Windows 7 in October of last year, but the actual end of sales will be at that point when the stock will have depleted across retailers and Microsoft’s sales partners. Microsoft says the following on its official page about end of sales of its Windows products: And you can see in the following table the end of sales dates for specific Windows operating systems:
So, as we can see, the sales of Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium and Ultimate editions are scheduled to end through OEMs. However, new PCs with Windows 8 preloaded by OEMs will be available for at least a year across retail stores.
