When you bought Windows 7 and Windows 8 (again I stress you did ‘buy’ them as they’re built into the cost of your computer) Microsoft promised to support them until 14 January 2020 and 10 January 2023 respectively. Now following the January changes, this is only true on the condition you don’t upgrade your computer to use current or future generation silicon from Intel, AMD or Qualcomm.
In short: your computer hardware must remain ‘old’ if you want to keep using Windows 7 or Windows 8 – implausible for anyone hoping to have a respectable system in 2023. Meanwhile if you buy a new computer and attempt to install Windows 7 or Windows 8 on it, the support will be invalid which means no antivirus or security patches. If you want a new computer you will have to use Windows 10 – the first time such a restriction has been made in the 30 year history of Windows.
For now the hardware restriction only applies to businesses, but it seems inconceivable it will not eventually be rolled out to consumers as well.
--Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2016/02/05/free-windows-10-true-cost/?utm_campaign=yahootix&partner=yahootix#2715e4857a0b3619d192593f
If I understand this correctly, all I need do is continue to run my "old" machines, and I'm golden with Win 7 until 2020 -- which is exactly what I was intending anyway!