New to Jailbraking - What's this window everyone is talking about?

[Mezzor]

On some threads recently I see people saying you only have X many days until the window closes for 7.0.4 etc, I've just updated to 7.0.4 on my 5s, I have jailbroke my 4s previously but just made sure I did my back ups etc before JBing.

Has my window passed etc and can someone shed any light on what they may mean?

Many Thanks

Mez

 

[jjmcb]

When Apple releases the new update for iOS which will patch the jailbreak

Also,If you are new to jail breaking my suggestions is to get software update killer also add this repo curtesy of willerz http://cydia.myrepospace.com/willerz2 and add his packages

 

[willerz2]

Every single iOS has a window. A window is the period of where the iOS is the latest available iOS up until the time it becomes succeeded by another iOS. Example would be the signing window for iOS 7.0.3 is now closed because 7.0.4 is now the latest iOS. For A5+ devices, windows are crucial because you do not have a bootrom level exploit that allows you to jailbreak your device on any and all iOSes, and you cannot downgrade on A5+ devices. Once a window is closed, the only way for it to re-open is if

1. Apple re-opens it themselves (will never happen)
2. Apple receives the sharp end of the stick like they did several months ago that caused every single one of their servers to be compromised, so Apple had to rebuild the security foundation from bottom to top, and in the process of the server testing functionality, all iOS's were open for signing for approximately 19 hours, which, in a sense, is the "official" downgrade method since Apple is signing your restoration.