You may have heard this once or twice before, but support for Windows 7 comes to an end on January 14th 2020
You can ready the full details of what this means on the Microsoft Support website, but in brief you need to know the following:
What does this mean?
It means that after January 14th 2020, Microsoft will no longer offer security patches and fixes to their Windows 7 operating system.
This means any security issues that may allow unscrupulous folks to gain access to your Windows 7 devices are no longer going to be fixed by Microsoft. The official response to people who discover this security holes will be that you need to upgrade to a more secure and supported operating system.
It’s fair to say that its time to retire the operating system that was launched in 2009, and replaced by Windows 8 in 2012, and then again in 2014 by Windows 10.
How will this affect me?
You will no longer recieve security patches or updates from Microsoft after this date.
What this means is any backdoor issues, or any security holes that can be exploited by viruses or malware, will not be fixed.
This means any issues that have already been discovered, but not yet disclosed to Microsoft to be fixed, are most likely going to be used after this date.
What do I need to do?
There are a couple of options if you currently have a Windows 7 device in operation:
- Replace – Our advice would be that you put that money towards replacing a machine thats likly to be at least 5 years old already. A replacement base unit will likely cost you around £600 depending on your specific requirements.
- Upgrade – You can upgrade your existing Windows 7 machine to Windows 10. A Windows 10 Licence for business will cost around £219.99
There are some scenarios where a Windows 7 is unable to either be replaced or upgraded. This may be due to a specific purpose or software package that means it has to stay as it is. In these cases, Microsoft and DaMtech can work with you to find a suitable alternative. This may include exluding those machines from connecting to the internet as an extra layer of security.
Will my computer stop working?
The short answer to this is no, your computer will power on and work as normal after this date.
However, our advice is that you do something about the Windows 7 machines in your offices, before its too late.
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