""(But it's not clear what the difference between mainstream and extended is.)""

I believe it means that they extended the period in which they offer full support. I am still getting optional hardware and software updates from Microsoft update, as well as critical security updates.


AFAIK, that is exactly what I was getting on "Mainstream".

I still think they have to be mad as a box of frogs to throw away the only truly stable platform they ever managed to produce, in favour of trendy gimmicks and grease smeared screens. The uptake (or rather lack of uptake) of Windows 8 should have given them pause, but the dumb bastards are determined to tell US what we want, whether it works or not being of far distant secondary importance.

Don T.