After 10 years, a pop-up on Windows 7 computers is advising users that support is nearing its end.\u00a0 So, what does the end of Windows 7 (or 8 or 8.1 for that matter) mean for computers and users?\u00a0 To start with the dates, Microsoft has slated January 14, 2020 as the last day Microsoft will offer security updates and technical support for Windows 7 (what they call \u201cEnd of extended support\u201d).\u00a0 I don\u2019t think that the \u201ctechnical support\u201d aspect has direct implication for most users.\u00a0 Users don\u2019t generally lean directly on Microsoft for support.\u00a0 However, updates are something that even the most advanced users rely on Microsoft to provide.\u00a0 Those updates provide for new features (although technically they stopped adding new features with the end of \u201cmainstream\u201d support on January 13, 2015) and bug fixes, but, more importantly they provide for security fixes.\u00a0 As time passes security vulnerabilities will continue to be found, but, after January 14, they won\u2019t be fixed.\u00a0 So, while you can continue to use Windows 7 you may be increasingly at risk for malware, viruses and exploits.<\/p>\n
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So, what should a Windows 7 user do?\u00a0 In some cases it might make sense to upgrade your computer to a newer version of Windows.\u00a0 Windows 8 was not well received and was quickly replaced with Windows 8.1.\u00a0 The End of extended support for Windows 8.1 is January 10, 2023.\u00a0 So, while there is some time left, there is very little reason to move to Windows 8 (and without purchasing licensing that allows for downgrade rights, getting to Windows 8\/8.1 would be difficult anyway).\u00a0 Instead, users who are going to upgrade should just upgrade to Windows 10.\u00a0 However, as opposed to upgrading, maybe it\u2019s time to look at replacing the computer. As stated in a previous article \u201cHow Long Should a Computer Last?\u201d the life expectancy of a computer is pretty universally considered to be three to five years.\u00a0 They stopped shipping new computers pre-installed with Windows 8.1 October 31, 2016.\u00a0 So, even the newest pre-Windows 10 computers are pushing three years old at this point.\u00a0 Making the decision to upgrade versus replace might come down to how old the machine is. If it\u2019s a laptop that shipped with Windows 7 in 2009, it\u2019s probably going to make more sense to replace it.\u00a0 If it was purchased as one of the last to ship with 8.1 in October of 2016, it might make sense to just upgrade it to Windows 10.\u00a0 Other performance and condition factors may come into play as well.\u00a0 A high-end i7 gaming system that you paid $3000 for a few years back might be a more viable upgrade than a $299 low-end, big box special Celeron system (especially if the former shipped with a solid state drive).<\/p>\n
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The staff at Fox is happy to help you decide whether upgrading your existing computers or replacing them would be the better course of action.\u00a0 We can help you with data migration, software installation and configuration and making the transition to Windows 10 an easy and efficient change.\u00a0 Give us a call or drop by the office if you have any questions. – Jayson<\/p>\n
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After 10 years, a pop-up on Windows 7 computers is advising users that support is nearing its end.\u00a0 So, what does the end of Windows 7 (or 8 or 8.1 for that matter) mean for computers and users?\u00a0 To start with the dates, Microsoft has slated January 14, 2020 as the last day Microsoft will<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rs_blank_template":"","rs_page_bg_color":"","slide_template_v7":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-it-security"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1709\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}