As of 2024, just 3% of traditional PCs running Windows are running Windows 7. By January 2018, Windows 10 surpassed Windows 7 as the most popular version of Windows worldwide. In just six months, over 100 million copies had been sold worldwide, increasing to over 630 million licenses by July 2012. Windows 7 was a major success for Microsoft even before its official release, pre-order sales for the operating system on the online retailer had surpassed previous records. Unlike Windows Vista, Windows 7 received critical acclaim, with critics considering the operating system to be a major improvement over its predecessor because of its improved performance, its more intuitive interface, fewer User Account Control popups, and other improvements made across the platform. Windows 7 also shipped with updated versions of several stock applications, including Internet Explorer 8, Windows Media Player, and Windows Media Center. A new ' Action Center' was also added to provide an overview of system security and maintenance information, and tweaks were made to the User Account Control system to make it less intrusive. Other new features were added to the operating system, including libraries, the new file-sharing system HomeGroup, and support for multitouch input.

Windows 7 continued improvements on the Windows Aero user interface with the addition of a redesigned taskbar that allows pinned applications, and new window management features. Windows 7 was intended to be an incremental upgrade to Microsoft Windows, addressing Windows Vista's poor critical reception while maintaining hardware and software compatibility. A paid support program was available for enterprises, providing security updates for Windows 7 for up to three years since the official end of life. Windows 7 remained an operating system for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs and media center PCs, and itself was replaced in November 2012 by Windows 8, the name spanning more than three years of the product.Įxtended support ended on January 14, 2020, over ten years after the release of Windows 7, after which the operating system ceased receiving further updates. Windows 7's server counterpart, Windows Server 2008 R2, was released at the same time. It is the successor to Windows Vista, released nearly three years earlier. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, 2009. Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. Įxceptions exist until at most October 8, 2024, Security updates were available for the operating system until January 10, 2023. This service was available via specific volume licensing programs for Professional & Enterprise editions (via OEMs for some embedded editions) in yearly installments. Windows 7 was eligible for the Extended Security Updates (ESU) service. Įxtended support ended on January 14, 2020 ( ). Mainstream support ended on January 13, 2015 ( ). Service Pack 1 (.24499) / February 9, 2011 13 years ago ( ) Įxcludes Windows Thin PC and some embedded editions: Source-available (through Shared Source Initiative).

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