It’s like saying goodbye to an old car, but you soon forget about it.
Windows 7 has been the workhorse behind most computing for the last decade, that’s right it was released in July 2009. A lot has changed since the release of Windows 7 mainly security features. Microsoft has maintained security patches for Windows 7 users, however that finishes on January 14th 2020 and will no longer update or send security patches. This means all vulnerabilities that are out there currently will not be patched after this date.
What do i need to do?
You need to update, who you use e.g. Mac or Windows is your choice, but you cannot sit on your hands with this one, your content on your machine is at risk after this date due to lack of support on security.
Also over the past few months as server security is changed the facility to use email will be greatly reduced as you machine will struggle to connect to TLS 1.2 as Windows 7 and 8 don’t support it. There was a patch from Microsoft for Windows 7, however most customers have had to migrate to Windows 10 to resolve email connectivity problems. Although Microsoft has been security patching machines, they have not been actively adding features. This means that new encryption technologies cannot be understood by the old software.
How long do i have to make the change?
If your not bothered about using Outlook to collect emails then you can wait until January, however make the change before January 14th. If you need an email client we have heard that Thunderbird may still work for now to collect emails but again expect issues in the near future.
Final thoughts
As i stated before its like changing cars or even homes, you soon forget them when you move on to something new.
Windows 7 has been a brilliant operating system and certainly one of the best Microsoft have ever released, but now trying to use it for your basic day to day tasks will become more and more problematic as it will feel that you are trying to put a square peg in a round hole. Let’s not forget the biggest issue here you will be a target after this date for security loopholes and nobody will have your back.
If you run a business running Windows 7 could be a potential GDPR nightmare if you were hacked, so make those changes now.
