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It was nice knowing you Windows 7


Yep, Windows 7 will be joining XP and Vista in that great OS graveyard in the sky.

NB: To be clear, I am talking about heaven, not "the cloud".

Microsoft will stop supporting Windows 7 with security updates on January 14, 2020.


That isn't as dramatic as it may appear.

It just means that Microsoft will stop plugging holes with security.

They've decided that the effort compared to the benefit is no longer viable...for them.

For us it is a different story.

Lots of people are still using Windows 7 for lots of reasons. One reason is that it is pretty good. Another reason is that it was pretty stable. It was lean and fast too <sigh>.

Windows 7 won't stop working, just the way Windows XP didn't stop working...it still works!

You'll just have your arse hanging out (security-wise).

What usually happens when announcements like this are made, is that certain big businesses will complain that their Windows 7 install-base is still very large, time is too short and the cost too great to "switch off Windows 7" just yet...

...and Microsoft extends the deadline a bit even if they don't overtly say so.

I've seen patches roll out past end-of-life for certain extreme cases (read: big problem, big whinging).

Also, where third parties see an opportunity to make some money, they will often plug the gaps with non-Microsoft software. You may/will pay for it somehow, and they too will eventually find it no longer worth their while, but this does give Windows 7 users a bit of breathing room.

Of course, if you disconnect you Windows 7 machine from the world, then the nee for security updates goes away. Food for thought?

Don't forget that since Windows 7 we've had windows 8, 8.1 and a raft of major Windows 10 releases. 7 really is quite old now.


If you are of a mind that your digital, read computing, security is important then you need to factor in an upgrade to Windows 10 in the next year.

Have fun, David.

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