As PC users anxiously await the release of Windows 9, many are beginning to worry about the latest impending deadline for Windows 7. On the Windows lifecycle fact sheet, Microsoft notes that it will no longer provide copies of Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium or Ultimate to third-party manufacturers for inclusion on new consumer PCs.

This means that the current stock of computers with Windows 7 preinstalled is the among the last that will ever be commercially available. It’s probably safe to assume this was originally meant to push consumers toward Windows 8, but it might end up convincing them to skip the current generation all together once the technical preview for Windows 9 becomes available to the public.

Business users aren’t going to be affected by the October 31st deadline — the end of sales date for Windows 7 Professional still hasn’t been established and Microsoft promises that it will provide at least one year of notice before the cutoff.

Finally, in regards to Windows 7 becoming the next Windows XP, Don’t fret: mainstream support for Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 doesn’t end until January 13th, 2015 and extended support will last until at least January 14th, 2020. At this point, Microsoft is just hoping that enough users upgrade to Windows 9 to justify either of the support deadlines.

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