Windows 7 End of Life
Windows 7 Users Be Warned
Today’s article is about the imminent death of support for Windows 7 (Win7), so if your PC is already running Windows 10 then give yourself a pat on the back and relax as far as this article is concerned! If your laptop or desktop is still running Win7 then even though you are in a massive group of around 40% of all PC users worldwide, you are still heading for trouble.
Win7 is now over 10 years old and at the rate that IT has changed over the last decade this is simply too old. When the 14th of January rolls around next year Microsoft will officially drop any further support for this aging operating system. In fact they have already ended what they call mainstream support for Win7 back in January 2015 which has meant no new features since that date.
For those still using Win7, what this means beyond January next year is increasing security threats and increasing vulnerability to hackers and scammers. If you are running a business and still using Win7 beyond this deadline you can add to the above threats a range of increasing compatibility problems with modern business software and hardware.
So, for those still on Win7 what is the best way to sort this problem? There is always the alternative of replacing the device, however if your existing PC has reasonable specifications then there may also be the possibility of simply upgrading it. Because Microsoft advertised free software licence upgrades from Win7 to Win10 for a limited time only, many people don’t realise that this upgrade is actually still free.
What other factors prevent people from upgrading or replacing? Many are frightened that they will lose important documents or personal data during the upgrade or replacement which is a valid concern if they are trying to do it themselves. Others have heard crazy rumours that Win10 is broken or not as good as Win7. Again this could end up true if they are trying to configure Win10 themselves.
Win10 could be described as the Swiss Army Knife of Operating Systems, it is complex and has a huge number of options plus it has been partially designed as a money-making vehicle for software companies if these features are not turned off. Every Win10 device that we have sold since it was released in mid-2015 has been configured for simplicity and ease of use before it left our shop, and as a result we have not had a single complaint about Win10 being difficult to drive.
The other important fact that Win7 users need to face is one of numbers and timing. If you consider how many people are still using Win7 and how quickly the 14th of January is going to come around it would be prudent not to get caught up in the rush that we will see just after Christmas. If you are looking for a place to start then the first step is to bring your existing device in for an evaluation to see if it meets the specs required to run Win10 efficiently.
Next week we will look a little closer at both the upgrade and replacement options – so until then wash a car and pray for rain!
Future Byte Me topics can be emailed to [email protected] and Bruce is contactable at Kerr Solutions, 205 Musgrave Street or on 07 49 222 400.
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