Back in August, Microsoft announced that it is ending support for OneDrive sync on older versions of Mac, and now the company is planning to do the same for Windows. It has revealed that from January 1, 2022, no updates will be offered to the OneDrive desktop app running on Windows 7, 8, and 8.1. And then from March 1, 2022, your personal files will no longer sync with the OneDrive service which means that you'll have to rely on manually uploading and downloading your content from OneDrive on web and keeping it in sync if you choose to stay on the aforementioned operating systems.
Microsoft has obviously recommended that users who want to continue taking advantage of the OneDrive sync app on desktop should upgrade to Windows 10 or 11. Meanwhile, people who can't upgrade due to reasons such a system requirements should resort to manually keeping their files in sync using the OneDrive web interface.
This announcement affects consumers for now as starting from next year, business users of OneDrive's desktop app will have their support period aligned with the lifecycle of the Windows version they are using.
Overall, the move is not surprising but it's interesting to note that while Windows 8 did run out of support in 2016, Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 are on extended support until January 10, 2023, which means that Microsoft is essentially ending support for its software while the associated OS is still live, in a way. It is possible that the number of OneDrive desktop users on the aforementioned operating systems is not large enough to warrant further investment from Microsoft.
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