Microsoft has officially stopped selling in retail shops copies of some versions of Windows 7 and 8. The move should help Microsoft to move people from older versions of its operating system (like Windows XP) to more recent ones. From 31 October, consumers could no longer buy copies of the Home Basic, Home Premium and Ultimate versions of Windows 7 and 8. The current version of Windows, 8.1 will be the default version offered on PCs and the next version of Windows, called Windows 10, is due to be released in late 2015.