Dive Brief:

• Microsoft announced Thursday it will extend support for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 for its commercial customers.
• The company had previously announced it would cease support for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 in July 2018 if used on machines equipped with Intel's Skylake processor, and would not provide security updates.
• Microsoft said it was changing its policy because of feedback it received from customers on the original plan to end support for the two versions of Windows in 2018. Now, the company plans to end Windows 7 support in January 2020 and end support for Windows 8.1 in January 2023. 

Dive Insight:

Microsoft has pushed consumers and businesses to upgrade to Windows 10 with a heavy hand, and customers have not always reacted well to the tactic. 

The company said the change is designed to help their customers as they manage their migrations to Windows 10.

"Enterprise customers are moving to Windows 10 faster than any version of Windows," Shad Larsen, director of Windows Business Planning, wrote in a company blog. "At the same time, we recognize that, in some instances, customers have a few systems that require longer deployment timeframes."

Larsen said there are now over 350 million devices on Windows 10.