Just over 15 years ago—on June 1st, 2011—Microsoft unveiled Windows 8 and released it to the world. As you can read in our visual history of Windows, the operating system wasn’t well-received by users.
Even though Microsoft went to great lengths to create a consistent, modern user interface with Windows 8, many users were highly critical of the new look and the touch-centric controls.
Funny enough, the working title for Windows 8 was “modern,” as long-time Microsoft developer Raymond Chen revealed in a recent blog post marking the anniversary. New Windows components were therefore labeled with the abbreviation “Mo,” which eventually led to so much confusion that the names were scrapped.
A year later, Microsoft tried to fix things with Windows 8.1, responding to criticism, implementing feedback, and bringing back the classic desktop that many had missed. Some unpopular design decisions—like Tiles—remained, but at least it was now easier to work around them.
Alongside Windows 8, Microsoft also introduced the Windows Store, which is still around to this day—unlike Windows 8, which was officially discontinued in January 2016. Or was it?
Windows 8 is still being used
An official end-of-support date doesn’t mean an operating system will completely cease to exist. If Windows 95 is still being used in critical sectors, then of course Windows 8 would also still be used. Examples of systems that still run on Windows 8 include:
- Hospitals and medical facilities: Devices used here often run on older versions of Windows, including Windows 8.
- Supermarket checkouts and gas stations: Many point-of-sale systems still rely on Windows 8 and similar versions.
- Industry and machinery: Control systems for older machines still run on older versions of Windows, as upgrades are too costly.
- Government agencies and public institutions: It’s not uncommon for government agencies to rely on older versions of Windows. As moving to a new system could cripple entire IT infrastructures, the process usually proceeds at a snail’s pace (or not at all).
- Private legacy systems: Some Windows enthusiasts use older versions of the operating system for personal reasons.
That last point is especially surprising, as private users in particular were clearly annoyed by Windows 8 when it first released. On Reddit, however, you can still find users who prefer Windows 8 or 8.1 and even use it as their main OS (examples here and here).
As for government agencies and institutions, they often run proprietary firewalls to guard against security issues and attacks. Nevertheless, caution is advised. To avoid risks, users should always ensure they don’t connect Windows 8 to the internet.
