Microsoft to end support for Windows 8.1 on Tuesday

As of Tuesday, Microsoft will end support for the Windows 8.1 operating system. This means that from now on system updates will be stopped and technical support will not be provided for Windows 8.1.

Microsoft warns that as of Tuesday, computers running on Windows 8.1 will become more vulnerable to attacks. That's why the company recommends users to upgrade to Windows 11.

Windows 8.1 was released on August 27, 2013 and was one of Microsoft's most criticized operating systems, as users were complaining of inconvenience and slow performance.

Two years later, Windows 10 was released, becoming one of Microsoft's most successful products; by March 2020, it was installed on more than 1 billion computers. Windows 10 and Windows 11 are currently installed on more than 1.4 billion devices.

Worldwide, as of January this year, 2.59% of traditional PCs are running on Windows 8.1. By this indicator, it was the fourth most popular version of Windows, until Windows 11 surpassed this operating system by its indicators.

Recently, Microsoft also announced that on February 14, 2023, the Internet Explorer browser will be completely disabled. Microsoft had previously announced that Internet Explorer would be disabled with a Windows update, but it was later revealed that the old browser would "die" after the Microsoft Edge update, which company representatives said would ease the transition to the new browser.

The company advised people still using Internet Explorer to switch to the Microsoft Edge browser to avoid potential problems on their computers by removing all shortcuts and other links to Internet Explorer before shutting down.

Microsoft announced its plans to gradually disable Internet Explorer back in 2020. Since June 15, 2022, the company has already started the process of phasing out the browser. As already mentioned, the final "death" of this browser will take place on February 14, 2023.