Time for Windows 8.1 users to jump ship? Don’t look now but there’s an exodus going on, one where developers are quietly abandoning one of the more popular operating systems on the planet.
Windows 8.1, the fourth most used desktop OS, had a share of 4.95%.
Enough to give it a user base of millions of users.
Microsoft confirmed that this version of Windows reached the end of mainstream support on January 9 this year, but the software titan will continue releasing patches and security updates for Windows 8.1 for at least five more years.
However, the app situation has already started taking a turn for the worse, with developers abandoning this OS left and right, directing users to upgrade to Windows 10.
Even Redmond is in on the act, as it killed off the Translator App for Windows 8.1 some ten days back, with Microsoft Translator now requiring the latest version of the operating system.
Earlier this year, in February, AMD dropped support for 32-bit Radeon drivers for Windows 8.1 Limiting graphics card owners to the 64-bit variant of this OS. Other hardware makers have followed suit and are now focusing their efforts on newer platform.
However, it’s the software situation that is the more alarming for these users.
Dropbox parted ways with Windows 8.1 this month, pulling its official app from the Microsoft Store. And a week later, yet another big application has been retired. The Weather Channel app is now no longer available for users running this version of the operating system.
As things stand, it has become crystal clear that developers are all set to give up on their Windows 8.1 apps in the near future.
Focus on Windows 10 is now of utmost importance.
Those left behind should now plan their upgrades to Windows 10.
