Microsoft OneDrive has become one of the cornerstones of Windows since Windows 7. The application has become steadily more integrated with Windows 10 and 11. However, it looks like the company is using it as one of the ways it can coax users to upgrade their operating system to the latest and greatest.

The company has announced on its forums that users on Windows 7 and 8.1 will be losing support for sync come March 1, 2022. The reason given behind the move is “to focus resources on new technologies and operating systems, and to provide users with the most up-to-date and secure experience.”. The Microsoft OneDrive desktop application for Windows 7 and 8.1 will stop receiving updates from January 1, 2022.

Business customers using the operating systems will be forced to update in accordance with the product support cycle which Microsoft has announced earlier in April 2019. Based on that update schedule, business customers have until January 10, 2023. It’s important to note that support for Windows 8 has already been halted.

The move doesn’t come as a surprise as Microsoft has been trying to streamline Windows from its current fragmented state. While we’re already on Windows 11, systems such as banks and other corporate outfits have been on older Windows systems such as Windows XP and even Windows 98. This fragmentation doesn’t just tax Microsoft when it comes to maintaining their OS, it also puts companies and their users at risk as the software could pose a serious security threat without proper maintenance.