Posted on 11/24/2019 9:12:44 AM PST by dayglored
Windows 7 support lifecycle
Microsoft made a commitment to provide 10 years of product support for Windows 7 when it was released on October 22, 2009. When this 10-year period ends, Microsoft will discontinue Windows 7 support so that we can focus our investment on supporting newer technologies and great new experiences. The specific end of support day for Windows 7 will be January 14, 2020. After that, technical assistance and software updates from Windows Update that help protect your PC will no longer be available for the product. Microsoft strongly recommends that you move to Windows 10 sometime before January 2020 to avoid a situation where you need service or support that is no longer available.
Dayglored's note: This site page has lots of Question And Answers regarding the upcoming Windows 7 end-of-life, including:
What does end of support mean for me?
What should I do?
Can I upgrade my existing PC to Windows 10?
How can I upgrade to Windows 10 for free?
What happens if I continue to use Windows 7?
Can Windows 7 still be activated after January 14, 2020?
Will Internet Explorer still be supported on Windows 7?
Will Microsoft Security Essentials continue to protect my PC after end of support?
What if I'm running Windows 7 Enterprise?
What about Windows 7 Embedded?
Can I move my existing programs to a new Windows 10 PC?
How will Windows 7 end of support affect my Microsoft Office apps?
I do everything that I can on Linux Mint. I have some older Windows programs that have been discontinued but I rely on them. My Windows 7 PC never is connected to the internet. I have several backup Windows 7 machines.
I will need Windows 10 at some point for some very specific purposes so will eventually get a Win 10 PC. No hurry.
My dayjob primary workstation is Linux with a Win10 VM, as well as a separate stand-alone Mac with a Win7 VM.
At home, I have a Mac with Win10, Win7, and Linux VMs, a Linux laptop, a Mac laptop with a Win10 VM.
I stopped installing Windows "on the metal" many years ago.
My wife has a Mac with a Win7 VM. She also has our only remaining Win7 "on-the-metal" install, a 10-year-old laptop, because she refuses to migrate to Win10 and that old box runs her old programs just fine.
Later
Wonder if I should upgrade to W7 before that date??????
XP forever?????
7 still works well. This is planned obsolescence, which Apple practices as well. It’s to make us buy new products.
Some people treat this as if it is the end of the world. Ask yourself, when was the last time you contacted MSFT for support? You say never? There you go.
I will admit not having Win 7 updates to thwart viruses is a concern.
BFLR
Or a MASOCHIST!
—
Why?
It come on every time I want it to.
I have a all the programs I need.
I have access to the internet and email.
But if it dies, I have my trusty Win 7 as a back up.
My first computer was a VIC 20 - 16K memory and a tape recorded for storage. So you can see anything above that is a bonus ( LOL )
What more do I need?
The stoppage of the security updates is the ONLY concern, but it's a very real one.
Malware writers will reverse-engineer the upcoming Win10 security updates, knowing that Win7 will not receive those fixes.As to "support" in the sense of calling for help, I personally know of no one, NO ONE, who has "contacted MSFT for support" in recent years, with success in fixing a problem. You end up talking to some largely-useless person with an Indian accent, who talks way too fast, over a bad phone connection. And their recommendations are typically not accurate. Who needs that hassle???The result will be loads of Win7-specific, targeted malware attacks, starting Jan 2020.
Anyone who continues to use Win7 (including me), with or without an internet connection, needs to understand and accept this risk.
Download Windows 10 Media Creation Tool run it and use your Windows 7 key when it asks for a key and you’ll get a free upgrade to windows 10 . Just did it on 3 of my brother in law’s Dell laptops
Sorry, no. I wish.
Microsoft tried to get everyone on Win7 to switch for free at first. But that ended quite a while ago.
On the other hand, I called H&R Block and they said Win 7 will be supported for the foreseeable future.
I still have XP on one of my machines, with an expensive CAD program that I don’t want to pay to replace.
Good article.
Just talked with a friend about this last week. They are in the process of evaluating apps and tasks they do from Windows 7 (running on a VM on a Mac) and moving them to run on the Mac natively.
Provided all goes well, after 01/01/20, they will isolate the Windows 7 VM so that it no longer has Internet connectivity, and then only run the Win 7 VM for troubleshooting purposes.
They will also install a Win 10 VM, but he says the way Microsoft has mugged software updates the last 1 1/2 years for Win 10 makes it difficult to support the OS.
Just ribbin’ ya!
I didn’t care much for Vista.
You certainly started ahead of me in technology. My first computer was an 8088 XT with 64K of RAM, a 20 MB HD, a 1200 baud modem, and an amber monochrome monitor running on DOS. Who needs anything more than that?
:)
Same here, even though I have a hard drive with Windows 10 (1709) on it, it’s not my primary O/S. I’ll stick with W7 for the foreseeable future.
Recently upgraded from a 2006 era intel system to a Ryzen 2600 with an NVME drive and 16 GB ram. What a difference.
” No, but functionality will diminish over time.”
Are you saying that Windows 7 will have less functionality that it has now, if I keep using my Windows 7? That seems impossible.
I use my PC for browsing and Word and Excel. What will Windows 10 offer me other than security updates?
Oh it still works, I just did it as well on a computer for a friend.
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