The end of Windows 7
If you still use Windows 7 this is what will happen to your system after January 14, 2020.
If you are still running unsupported OS versions we recommend that you contact your I.T. service provider as a matter of urgency. If you do not have a service provider we are happy to put you in contact with the right professionals to assist you.
Windows 7 is due to reach End Of Life (EOL) on 14 January 2020, but a large number of the world's computers, most in corporate environments, are still running the nine-year-old system.
Microsoft ended mainstream support for Windows 7 in January 2015, with extended support running till 14 January 2020. Businesses which fail to migrate in time will be saddled with high fees for further support from Microsoft.
What does this End of Life mean? No more bug-fixes, security patches or new functionality, making any user - personal or enterprise - significantly more susceptible to malware attacks. Just as it did with Windows XP, Microsoft will continue to offer support for those Windows 7 users still reluctant to upgrade to its Windows 10 Operating System, but it'll cost you.
There is absolutely nothing stopping you from using Windows 7, even after its End of Life. But you should know that using an outdated operating system makes your computer vulnerable to cyber-attacks.
Windows 7 was the version of Windows most widely affected by WannaCry in 2017. Without patches, Windows 7 is still vulnerable to the BlueKeep bug, a wormable bug meaning that it can self-propagate from machine to machine.
The reasons behind the slow updating process for Windows 7 PCs vary but primarily seem to be either software in place, which may be unable to run on the newest OS versions, or the Windows 10 minimum hardware requirements.
If you are still running unsupported OS versions we recommend that you contact your I.T. service provider as a matter of urgency. If you do not have a service provider we are happy to put you in contact with the right professionals to assist you.
Karaco