Windows 8 users will need to upgrade to either Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 in order to receive important security updates.

Windows 8 is at the end of its life cycle and it will no longer receive security updates starting Wednesday, The Inquirer reports.

Windows 8 was extremely unpopular and criticized by Windows users for being a poor operating system. Many users were extremely mad that the Start Button was removed from the desktop.

There are likely still thousands of computers running Windows 8 since Netmarketshare reported that 2.76 percent of users were still using the operating system this month. These computers could soon be vulnerable to viruses and security vulnerabilities starting this week.

Windows 8.1 is installed on 10.6 percent of computers, but it is likely that Windows 10 will surpass that this quarter.

Part of the reason why many Windows 8 users did not upgrade to Windows 8.1 was the fact that the operating system was pushed out on the new Windows Store instead of through Windows Update. Users decided not to go through this process and stuck with Windows 8.

Once Windows 10 came out, more Windows 8 users decided to take advantage of the free upgrade. Windows 8 users see the constant popup reminders and have skipped upgrading to Windows 8.1 and going right to Windows 10 instead.

As users continue to upgrade to Windows 10, Windows 8's share should drop down even lower to near the levels of Windows Vista which is used on just 1.62 percent of all computers. Windows Vista does not offer the free upgrade to Windows 10.

It is important to remember that Windows XP stopped offering security updates and it is still the second most popular operating system in the world. These users sticking with the popular operating system are at risk for viruses, but do not want to give up their beloved Windows XP.

Windows 10 was released July 29, 2015 as a free download to all Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 users.

Related