Microsoft Corp's decision to cut the Windows 7 operating system loose will leave nine out of 10 Windows devices in China running with little or no official support.

Microsoft on Wednesday suspended "mainstream support" of the product, meaning neither new features nor free help will be given to Windows 7 users. The company will continue to patch security vulnerabilities until 2020.

The United States-based company hopes retiring the 5-year-old operating system, which runs on half of the personal computers globally, will make way for later-generation products including Windows 10, a widely anticipated update that Microsoft pledged will contain many technological leaps.