Microsoft will stop extended support of Windows 7 after three years. Don’t you think it’s about time to let it go?

Are you still using Windows 7 OS? Then Microsoft has some bad news for you. The company has officially announced that the extended support of Windows 7 will expire in three years, what means that from 2020, Windows 7 security updates, app updates, technical support, and all other system’s management will be stopped permanently.

Windows 7 (codenamed Vienna, formerly Blackcomb[7]) is an operating system (OS) developed by Microsoft and released to manufacturing in 2009. Initially, this OS was intended to be a major upgrade to Windows Vista, the predecessor of Windows 7. However, taking into account poor Windows Vista adoption and the critics of IT specialists, the company has decided to turn “incremental upgrade” into a separate computer operating system. It has been praised by critics for being programmed in a very advanced way, for its speedy performance, user-friendly interface, minimized UAC pop-ups, software compatibility, and many other improvements if compared to Windows Vista. The number of users has reached 630 million worldwide by July 2012. Even more, according to the Net Applications, Windows 7 constituted 47.17% of desktop operating systems by November 2016, which is an impressive number having in mind that Windows XP, Vista, 8, 8.1, and 10 are on the market alongside.

While Windows 7 remains to be one of the most widely used OS for desktop computers, Microsoft is counting its last years of support. The final date for security updates is scheduled to April 11, 2017, while Office 2007 will be completed on October 10, 2017. The terminated Microsoft’s support of Windows 7 doesn’t mean that in 2020 this version of operating system will freeze leaving the screen blank or something. It means that Windows 7 will get zero security updates, application updates and any other technical support, which is why the system will become an easy target for hackers, the performance and the number of errors may increase significantly. By the way, even though it’s not officially announced how Windows 7 maintenance costs to the company, we can imagine that the expenses are huge.

In comparison to Windows 10, Windows 7 interface, app support, driver support (no Intel, AMD and Qualcomm chipsets), security requirements, and other peripherals are obsolete, outdated, and falling behind modern technologies. Therefore, Microsoft team is encouraging Windows enthusiasts to let Windows 7 go and move on to the modern operating system, which is Windows 10. As Markus Nitschke, the head of Windows at Microsoft Germany claims, Windows 7 “does not meet the requirements of modern technology, nor the high-security requirements of IT departments” anymore, so by using it in 2017 or later, when almost a decade of its release has surpassed, pose a high risk to get infected with virus, get scammed or experience a serious system crash without a possibility to get data restored.

All in all, it’s advisable to upgrade to Windows 10 without a delay and enjoy the best service and features that Microsoft can currently offer to the users. Quoting Nitschke, Windows 10 exhibits “the highest level of security and functionality at the cutting edge.” Built-in security tools, fingerprint login, facial recognition, Cortana assistance, Windows Defender, Windows Information Protection, the plethora of Windows Store Apps, touch control, and many more features Windows 10 is adapting millions of new users. Therefore, evaluating the fact that Windows 7 isn’t as secure and fast as it was 8 years ago, give Windows 10 a try and you will not be disappointed!

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Jake Doe
Jake Doe - Computer technology geek

Jake Doe is the news editor at UGetFix. Since he met Ugnius Kiguolis in 2003, they both launched several projects that spread awareness about cybercrimes, malware, and other computer-related problems.

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