Microsoft is giving some Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 users another reason to upgrade to a newer version of the operating system. The company has announced that its OneDrive cloud storage platform will start to drop support for those older versions of Windows in early 2022.
"In order to focus resources on new technologies and operating systems, and to provide users with the most up-to-date and secure experience, beginning January 1, 2022, updates will no longer be provided for the OneDrive desktop application on your personal Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 devices," Microsoft said in a blog post on the change. "Personal OneDrive desktop applications running on these operating systems will stop syncing to the cloud on March 1, 2022."
Microsoft advises people using these versions of Windows to finally upgrade to Windows 10 or 11. That's easier said than done for many people, however, whether it's because their hardware doesn't meet the new system requirements or because upgrading isn't up to them. But the looming end of support for Windows 7 and 8.1—both of which Microsoft plans to stop updating on Jan. 10, 2023—means those obstacles will have to be overcome sooner than later anyway.
Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 users will have another option, though. Microsoft says files can still be uploaded and downloaded via OneDrive's web app; they just won't automatically sync via the platform's native applications. It also notes that these changes apply to the consumer version of OneDrive. Support for the business version "will be aligned with the Windows support lifecycle," the company says, which suggests Windows 7 and 8.1 will be supported until 2023.