.NET support for Windows 7 and 8.1 will end in January 2023

[richlander]

This issue is a locked mirror of dotnet/core#7556. See that issue for discussion.

.NET support for Windows 7 and 8.1 will end in January 2023

Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 are currently supported with .NET 6. They will not be supported with .NET 7+.

Details

Windows 7 is only supported (with .NET 6) for organizations that have purchased Extended Security Updates (ESU). Windows 7 will be supported for those organizations until the ESU offering ends, which is January, 2023. At that time, Windows 7 will no longer be supported with .NET 6.

Windows 8.1 is supported until January 2023. At that time, Windows 8.1 will no longer be supported with .NET 6.

Windows Server 2012/R2 ESU will start mid-way through the .NET 7 lifecycle, in October 2023. We will offer support for Windows Server 2012/R2 throughout .NET 7 and .NET 8, assuming you have purchased ESU updates. We recommend that you do not install .NET 7 on Windows Server 2012/R2 unless you have a migration plan (within a year of .NET 7 General Availability) to a newer operating system or plan to purchase Windows Server ESU.

Windows Server 2016+ will be supported throughout .NET 7 and .NET 8.

We encourage you to migrate to Windows 10 or 11 if you would like to use .NET 7 or later on Windows Client.