Windows 8 Users Have Two Years To Install Windows 8.1

Windows 8.1 should be here in just a matter of days. The new operating system is set to go live this Friday, and as expected, user anticipation is appropriately high.

And Microsoft, obviously, hopes most if not all Windows 8 users will make the move to the new OS.

Long story short, if you are a Windows 8 user and are planning to upgrade to Windows 8 upon release, then good on you. If you plan on delaying the free upgrade, then Microsoft is ready to give you two years to install Windows 8.1.

The company announced this on its official support page that Windows 8 users only have two years to deploy Windows 8.1 — that is if they want to remain under the same lifecycle policy that was announced at launch.

Here is what it says on the Windows 8.1 Support Lifecycle Policy page:

“Windows 8 customers will have two years to move to Windows 8.1 after the General Availability of the Windows 8.1 update to continue to remain supported under the Windows 8 lifecycle.”

In other words, if you do not deploy Windows 8.1 within two years, your version of Windows 8 will go dark on October 18, 2015. And boy, keeping in mind how fast time flies these days, this is not all that long. Trust me on this!

However, Microsoft has revealed that users that make the move to Windows 8.1 will continue to be offered support until January 10, 2023.

The company is obviously very confident of its creation, and wants all its users to make the move to its newest operating system. Windows 8.1 improves upon Windows 8 in nearly all areas, after all.