what to do after windows 7 support ends hacker news
What to do if yous're still running Windows 7
Windows 7 is no longer supported, so yous improve upgrade, sharpish...
For those still using Windows 7, the deadline to upgrade from it has passed; it'southward now an unsupported operating system. So unless you want to leave your laptop or PC open to bugs, faults and cyber attacks, you best upgrade it, sharpish.
If you're reading this and haven't moved on to Windows 10, it just goes to show the popularity of Windows 7. It was ane of the nearly loved PC operating systems, withal raking in 36% of active users a decade afterward its initial release. That's non far behind the 43.6% running Windows 10.
Sadly, no corporeality of popularity will protect your now un-secured computer, and then here is everything you need to know most moving on...
Why does this hateful an upgrade is needed?
The 'why' in this instance is pretty straight forward; Information technology's because Microsoft wants you to. The tech giant stopped back up Windows 7 on 14 January 2020 and yous tin't really blame information technology, as the operating system is erstwhile and in that location are newer alternatives. Now, it doesn't hateful your Windows seven device will just stop working, no, information technology simply ways that there will be no more patches, security updates and technical support.
No doubt, there will exist a few chancers reading this thinking it doesn't sound that bad, but running unsupported versions of Windows is an opportunity for would-be hackers. Is your resistance to change worth putting y'all and or your business at risk?
Continuing to apply Windows 7 without patches and updates will go out systems vulnerable to new exploits and malware as they sally. AV-Examination.org registered 67.7 million new strains of Windows malware during 2018, and the situation is just likely to become worse, as some security experts believe that malware developers are property potential Windows seven exploits back, prepare to unleash them as soon equally support ends.
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For some businesses, running an unsupported OS isn't fifty-fifty an choice, as it volition compromise basic due diligence and compliance standards.
For those companies resistant to change either due to economic reasons or technological preferences, or for those who accept but been caught unawares past the borderline, Microsoft is presenting several options that do let support for Windows vii to continue. These options range from the gratis to the explicitly monetary.
Customers of Azure can employ the Windows Virtual Desktop on the Azure service, which allows an additional iii years of extended support as function of the package. Though this comes at no additional cost to existing Azure customers, initially migrating to the cloud service does unsurprisingly yield overheads.
Otherwise, customers can pay for Extended Security Updates, something that Microsoft has offered in the past to skilful feedback. The price of the updates reflects their status as a temporary solution, existing for companies who have missed the Jan 2020 deadline. Co-ordinate to Microsoft, "Customers with active Software Balls or subscription licenses can purchase Extended Security Updates for approximately 75% of the on-bounds license cost annually." For more details on pricing, contact your Microsoft business relationship.
Information technology should be stressed that such options should only be viewed as a method to ease the transition, rather than a style to stave off migration altogether.
Changing of the baby-sit
To some, the end of support for Windows 7 might take been slow to arrive, but to IT decision makers, the deadline of Jan 2020 was a rapid turnaround, a mere glimmer of the center. That's because IT project deployment can exist painstakingly dull. Dale Titcombe, caput of It at BCS, The Chartered Constitute for IT, toldInformation technology Pro that it was never as well early to start work on migrating over to Windows ten from Windows 7.
"It cannot be causeless that remedial work won't exist required in gild to transition between Bone versions and that 'projects' inside the migration project may likely present themselves, that require prioritisation and resourcing," Titcombe said last year.
He argued that the process of upgrading the machines to a new OS is the easy role, which oft tin can exist done in a matter of days with the right provisioning. "The harder part is making sure you lot have identified any problems you lot take in your environment and planning the projection," he added.
And the larger your organisation is, the more than likely it is that you'll have needed to offset migration piece of work immediately; even more so if yous haven't started work on migration.
"Established businesses and institutions have been here before, so hopefully lessons have been learned," said Richard Edwards, distinguished research annotator at Freeform Dynamics. "Large enterprises aren't usually the fastest movers, and then less than a twelvemonth should signal a degree of urgency."
Businesses chance beingness left behind
Windows 7 proved quite popular, despite the approach of stop date, significant a significant number of desktops were to go potentially vulnerable unless changes were made, and Titcombe explained that cyber criminals would be posed to strike as soon equally the end of life borderline came into issue.
Titcombe also points out that organisations that stick with Windows vii will go out of bear on, and that'southward where the motility to Windows 10 is an opportunity. He said whatever organisation or individual making the move to Windows 10 volition "be amazed about how much faster and more than dynamic your environment becomes with the upgrade to Windows 10 and its supporting software like Part 365 and Windows server 2016".
So, making the motion to Windows x can be a lever to taking a fresh await at IT more generally, which was likewise true of BCS' ain migration.
"Every bit function of our move to Windows 10, nosotros have pushed the organisational IT policy forward with moves to more than cloud operations and SaaS solutions," explained Titcombe. "Our new Windows ten environment is much more dynamic than our previous pre-Windows ten thick-client environs."
Even without taking that broader approach, in that location are software compatibility reasons to run into the move as a expert thing rather than a chore. Much of the draw of Windows 10 is the greater range of features it provides, and newer software and hardware are oftentimes designed with Windows 10 in heed, with no guarantee of the same experience on Windows 7.
"In the same year that Microsoft gave us Windows 7, Apple gave us the iPhone 3GS and Google shipped Android 2.0, clair," said Edwards. "How far has Microsoft Windows come up since and then? It's time to move up or change course."
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Slow and steady wins the race
Starting the movement away from Windows seven with enough of fourth dimension in hand meant it was possible to think advisedly nearly the whole IT setup, and perchance practice a much needed general spring clean both on the hardware and software sides. Just with the borderline now gone, information technology'south imperative for businesses that haven't moved from Windows seven to make a fundamental shift.
Edwards' communication is to "understand why you're upgrading and don't do it blindly".
"There are other means and means out there if Windows ten doesn't appeal. Look at these alternatives seriously, including Windows x in Due south mode, and remember that the tools nosotros utilise shape the manner nosotros exercise things. PC hardware can run a variety of operating systems. Maybe take a await at (Google-backed) CloudReady from Neverware as an instance."
Wherever an organisation goes after Windows seven, upgrading should be done in a measured and controlled mode, not rushed at the concluding moment.
"This is essential if yous want a smoothen upgrade," explained Titcombe. "You lot'd much rather have a few weeks/months to spare afterwards planning than realising you lot didn't exit enough time and need to end off the entire project/deployment in a week."
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Source: https://www.itpro.co.uk/microsoft-windows/32066/what-to-do-if-youre-still-running-windows-7