Windows 8.1 will show end of support nag screens starting July 2022 untill Jan. 2023

[German]It's hard to believe that Windows 8.1 will reach the end of support in just over six months and will no longer receive security updates. Microsoft plans to inform the remaining users who are running Windows 8.1 about the end of support through superimposed info starting in July 2022. This is to avoid people being surprised by the end-of-life (EOL) of Windows 8.1.

January 10, 2023 is EOL

In

January 2023, Windows 8.1 will reach the end of its life, i.e. on January 10, 2023, on Microsoft Patchday, this operating system will receive security updates for the last time and will be considered "End-of-Life" (EOL) from that point on, as you can read here. The operating system can still be used, but no more known security vulnerabilities would be closed as early as February 2023.

Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2, on the other hand, don't drop out of support until Oct. 10, 2023, according to this and this Microsoft website. Companies can also purchase an annual Extending Security Update (ESU) license for these operating systems, extending support until Oct. 13, 2026.

Hardly used anymore, no support extension

A support extension for another three years, as was the case with Windows 7, and as is the case with Windows Server 2012 as well as Windows Server 2012 R2, will not be available for Windows 8.1. The background is that Windows 8.x was virtually not used in companies. The Statcounter site states that Windows 8.1 will still be running on 3.06% of desktop systems in May 2022 (Windows 8.0 comes in at 1.36%). Windows 7 is at 13.03%, Windows 10 comes to 71.82% and Windows 11 is at 10.08% share on the desktop.

EOL reminder from July 2022

Windows 8.1 will remind users about the end of support on January 10,2023, starting in July 2022  untill January 2023. Mary Foley mentioned this in this article at ZDNet.com. Within this article it states:

To make sure Windows 8.1 users are aware, Microsoft will start notifying them about the upcoming end of support in July. When they see the notifications, they can click "Learn More," "Remind Me Later" or "Remind Me After Support Ends," which will last until January 2023, Microsoft said.

This type of notification has existed in the past with Windows 7 SP1. Only systems running Windows 8.1 that are members of a domain should not see this reminder.

Regarding upgrading to Windows 10 or Windows 11, which is actually obvious, it looks black in my estimation. The requirements of Windows 11 are so high that typical Windows 8.1 machines won't meet them. With Windows 10, you have to see if an upgrade makes sense. Unofficially, at least the Windows 8.1 key for activating Windows 10 should still work. Addendum: There is now a Microsoft FAQ available.