Microsoft dropping support for Windows Essentials in January 2017

Previously known as, Windows Live Essentials and Windows Live Installer, the Windows Essentials has held a credible place as a suite of Windows applications, that provides users with extensive features like Photo Gallery, email, Blogging, Movie Maker, Mail, and also a Live Writer, even after the death of the Windows Live Era. The suite was introduced in August 2016 and it supports all Windows versions from XP to 10.
With recent findings, we are sad to inform our readers that Windows Essentials 2012 will not be available for download after January 10, 2017, as reported in a notification posted on Microsoft’s website informing.

The first spread via a support web page for Windows Essentials, shows a  banner that reads, “Windows Essentials 2012 suite will reach end of support on January 10, 2017” as you can see below.

Majority of the services in the Windows Essentials suite are already provided on Windows 10, so there was no point in investing time and efforts to bring further updates in an already outdated suite. Microsoft is suggesting its Windows Essential users to shift towards the built-in Mail, Photos, One Drive, and Family Safety features in Windows 8.1.

We all remember the time when WindowsLive Messenger was named to be the most popular source of communication and was a valued Windows Essential app, but it certainly was sidelined by Skype, while the new Mail app in Windows 10 takes the place of Windows Live Mail. Replacement for the Photo Gallery is the Windows 10 built-in photos app,  the Windows Live Writer has a third-party alternate, Live Writer app that is offered with an open-source license.

And lastly the OneDrive and Family Safety are both pre-installed on the Windows 10 OS, so Microsoft has got that covered too. On a wider perspective, Microsoft has “modernized” the Windows Essential Suite rather than killing it.

On the Plus side, Microsoft  has more recently prompted the possible release of the Windows Movie Maker (one of the apps included in the Windows Essentials pack) in the Windows Store. With the dense concentration, Microsoft is putting in the development of Windows 10, killing off support for Windows Essentials alive was inevitable, as it largely addressed older Windows versions. Users who already have Windows Essential apps downloaded and running, can still use it after January 10th, but with a security risk of involved of using unsupported applications.

We would suggest switching to the newer apps which is probably the best option available to Windows users right now.

With mixed feeling os nostalgia and excitement, let us know how you feel about this change in the comments.