Microsoft has announced that support for Windows 7 will come to an end on January 14, 2020. All Windows 7 users will be advised to upgrade to Windows 10 as soon as possible.
Windows 7 users will receive notifications on screen to alert them that the OS is approaching end of life when they install the latest KB4493132 update, which will be made available through Windows Update.
The update is not mandatory. Users will have the option of not installing the update, but Microsoft does say the update resolves issues in Windows 7. Those issues are the impending end of support for Windows 7.
Users that install the update will have an executable file installed which will run daily on start up to display the warning that support for Windows 7 is coming to an end. The notifications will start to appear on screen from April 18, 2019 and will be similar to the messages that were displayed to urge users to upgrade to Windows 10 when the OS was first released.
After receiving widespread criticism for the Windows 10 upgrade notifications, Microsoft has included an option to stop the notifications from being displayed. Otherwise, the notifications will be displayed on startup every day between 4/18/19 and 1/15/2020.
Users will have 9 months to complete the upgrade before updates and patches to address vulnerabilities will stop. Microsoft is starting to display the warnings early to give users time to plan and implement their upgrade, which can be a complicated task for many businesses.