I started writing this long ago but I still want to say goodbye.

A bittersweet era has arrived.
We say goodbye to another beloved version of Windows.
Climbing to the ranks of XP levels of stability and adoption, it has reached the day of retirement well earned.

When released, it freed so many of us from the fiasco of Vista, and gave businesses the freedom to finally upgrade without fear.

It was a tough sell to migrate off of XP. Because while it may seem like a distant memory, XP had a rough launch.

The memory and storage requirements were insane compared to Windows 9x/ME.
Drivers were almost nowhere to be found.
It was also the first OS many people who went online for the first time started with.
It’s crazy to imagine internet connectivity as a luxury or niche item, but it was for many when XP launched in 2001.

Windows 7 gave new life to Windows. More power, more features, better security, the list goes on.
It was what Vista was supposed to be.

Designed for a world with every growing needs, it performed admirably.
While nearly carrying us into a new decade, it had to be built in such a way that it was destined to be left behind.

Many people often forget Windows must be written for an extensive back catalog of milliona of applications. And all things considered, it was very compatible.

So as we watch it slowly disappear beyond the horizon we should all raise a toast to Windows 7 and the years of stability and performance it gave us.