Extended support ended on January 14, 2020, over 10 years after the release of Windows 7, after which the operating system ceased receiving further updates.

A paid support program was available for enterprises, providing security updates for Windows 7 for up to three years since the official end of life.

Windows 7 was a major success for Microsoft; even before its official release, pre-order sales for the operating system on the online retailer Amazon.com had surpassed previous records.

Major features were planned for Blackcomb, including an emphasis on searching and querying data and an advanced storage system named WinFS to enable such scenarios.

[25] When released, Windows Vista was criticized for its long development time, performance issues, spotty compatibility with existing hardware and software at launch, changes affecting the compatibility of certain PC games, and unclear assurances by Microsoft that certain computers shipping with XP before launch would be "Vista Capable" (which led to a class-action lawsuit), among other critiques.

These were broadly divided into "core operating system" and "Windows client experience", in turn organized into 25 teams of around 40 developers on average.

[45][46] At CES 2009, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the Windows 7 Beta, build 7000, had been made available for download to MSDN and TechNet subscribers in the format of an ISO image.

These buttons also enable Jump Lists to allow easy access to common tasks, and files frequently used with specific applications.

[70] In touch-enabled displays such as touch screens, tablet PCs, etc., this button is slightly (8 pixels) wider in order to accommodate being pressed by a finger.

Windows 7 includes 13 additional sound schemes, titled Afternoon, Calligraphy, Characters, Cityscape, Delta, Festival, Garden, Heritage, Landscape, Quirky, Raga, Savanna, and Sonata.

All editions include Shadow Copy, which—every day or so—System Restore uses to take an automatic "previous version" snapshot of user files that have changed.

[89][90] For developers, Windows 7 includes a new networking API with support for building SOAP-based web services in native code (as opposed to .NET-based WCF web services),[91] new features to simplify development of installation packages and shorten application install times.

[94][95] Windows 7 is available in six different editions, of which the Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate were available at retail in most countries, and as pre-loaded software on most new computers.

[96][97] The highest edition, Enterprise, is functionally similar to Ultimate, but is only sold through volume licensing via Microsoft's Software Assurance program.

[113] In August 2019, researchers reported that "all modern versions of Microsoft Windows" may be at risk for "critical" system compromise because of design flaws of hardware device drivers from multiple providers.

[116] In September 2019, Microsoft announced that it would provide free security updates for Windows 7 on federally-certified voting machines through the 2020 United States elections.

[121] Alongside this, several other web browsers based on the Chromium codebase also dropped support for these operating systems after version 109, including Google Chrome and Opera.

Microsoft initially stated that it would attempt to resolve this issue, and prevented installation of the affected patches on these systems.

However, Microsoft retroactively modified its support documents on June 15, 2018 to remove the promise that this bug would be resolved, replacing it with a statement suggesting that users obtain a newer processor.

As a result, in March 2013, the European Commission fined Microsoft €561 million to deter companies from reneging on settlement promises.

[166] The last non-extended security update rollup packages were released on January 14, 2020, the last day that Windows 7 had extended support.

CNET gave Windows 7 Home Premium a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars,[176] stating that it "is more than what Vista should have been, [and] it's where Microsoft needed to go".

Peter Bright of Ars Technica argued that "the way that the Windows 7 UAC 'improvements' have been made completely exempts Microsoft's developers from having to do that work themselves.

"[198] Microsoft's Windows kernel engineer Mark Russinovich acknowledged the problem, but noted that malware can also compromise a system when users agree to a prompt.

[200] It became the highest-grossing pre-order in Amazon's history, surpassing sales of the previous record holder, the seventh Harry Potter book.

[212] According to Stephen Baker of the NPD Group during April 2010 in the United States 77% of PCs sold at retail were pre-installed with the 64-bit edition of Windows 7.

According to status reports filed, the three-member panel began assessing prototypes of the new operating system in February 2008.

Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Jupiter Research, said, "[Microsoft's] challenge for Windows 7 will be how can they continue to add features that consumers will want that also don't run afoul of regulators.

"[219] In order to comply with European antitrust regulations, Microsoft proposed the use of a "ballot" screen containing download links to competing web browsers, thus removing the need for a version of Windows completely without Internet Explorer, as previously planned.

[220] Microsoft announced that it would discard the separate version for Europe and ship the standard upgrade and full packages worldwide, in response to criticism involving Windows 7 E and concerns from manufacturers about possible consumer confusion if a version of Windows 7 with Internet Explorer were shipped later, after one without Internet Explorer.