In less than a year Microsoft will cease to offer security updates for all the version of Windows 7 as mainstream support will be no longer provided after January 20 2019.
Those that wish to receive additional security updates after the mainstream support is retired will have to pay an additional fee in order to receive Extended Security Updates.
Windows 7 has remained very popular with companies and individual users alike. Microsoft is still pushing Windows 10 as a worthwhile update for business clients, highlighting the advanced security features and unified update policy. The Redmond company hoped that the fragmentation of the PC segment will be reduced with the introduction of the Windows 10 but those dreams were far from reality.
Many of the features introduced with the latest incarnation of the operating system require advanced peripherals in order to work properly. For example, if you want to use Windows Ink you will need a pricey stylus and a touchscreen in order to benefit from it.
Windows 10 was introduced back in 2015 and more than three years were needed in order to overtake Windows 7. Official numbers released by Microsoft note that over 15 billion devices are currently running Windows. While 700 million are running Windows 10, millions of people continue to use Windows 7 for several reasons.
Most of them argue that the update mechanics of Windows 10 are quite faulty. Until recently the system would randomly restart in the middle of a task in order to apply the latest patches that were released.
The buggy October update has also lead to a wave of disapproval. Unlucky users lost valuable data due to a bug that deleted random files and overwrote the space as soon as it became free, effectively removing any recovery options.
The issue has been fixed but who knows when it may surface again. Another problem is caused by the fact that many companies are still using legacy software that isn’t compatible with Windows 10. In many cases shifting to other apps would imply additional costs that don’t seem to be justified.
Windows 10 could grow in the next years but it is likely that many users will continue to use Windows 7 in the future since a reliable antivirus solution should protect their system from any harm.
Nora Reynolds is a major in biology and a minor in Biological Basis of Behavior, writing about science in general. She also likes to try new gadgets and sports about the AI new era.