On January 10, 2023 Microsoft officially retired Windows 8.1. Windows 8 was never the hit Microsoft hoped it would be. Its Tablet interface on everything idea even a server (I'm lookin' at you Server 2012) was an idea so bad that to this day seeing the full screen live tile interface show up when I click the start button makes my blood boil, just give me a start button!
Anyway, with that rant out of the way it's important to look at the dangers of continuing to run any machine in your environment with Windows 8.1.
“Continuing to use Windows 8.1 after January 10, 2023 may increase an organization’s exposure to security risks or impact its ability to meet compliance obligations.”
Source: Microsoft
While a machine running Windows 8.1 will continue to boot, just like 8, 7, and heck even XP it will no longer receive security updates or patches. This means your organization, even if you only have one machine running off to the side somewhere running Windows 8 is now vulnerable to a myriad of attacks.
If your organization still has machines running in your environment with Windows 8, 8.1, or *shudder* Windows 7 or earlier please contact us to help you either upgrade these installations or replace the workstations altogether. The minuscule cost savings your organization might be achieving by not performing these upgrades is offset 10, 20, or even 100x by the cost of a breach.
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