According to the Microsoft website, retail sales for Windows 7 have ended, and have been over as of October 30. The next deadline for Windows 7, which reflects PCs with it preinstalled, is October 30 2014. This is standard practice for Microsoft, whose policy is to stop selling an older operating system in retail one year after the launch of its successor (2 years to stop shipping to OEMs). With Windows 8 having launched in October last year, the time is ripe for Windows 7 to start being phased out to make its successor the default.
