Windows 7 end of support query

[Xenophon PCDGS]

In a recent telephone conversation, I was told that Microsoft will not be ending security updates for Windows 7 until 14th January 2020. Has any other website member heard a different date to that, please.

 

[GusB]

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/13853/windows-lifecycle-fact-sheet

A quick Google search provided the link above, and it suggests that the end of extended support is 14 January 2020. I believe this means updates will only be available to organisations with support contracts, but I'm happy to be corrected. I upgraded to 10 when it was free to do so.

EDIT: After further reading it would appear that free security updates are provided as extended support.

 

[jon0844]

I'd just upgrade to Windows 10. I am pretty sure it's still free, and any computer that ran Windows 7 will almost certainly run Windows 10 - and better (making better use of older spec hardware).

 

[Harpers Tate]

Win10 isn't free any longer, although there may be less-than-honest ways to still get it. I'd also support the suggestion to upgrade, though. I don't "fear" all the things that conspiracy theorists fear about Win10 and, as an OS it seems pretty stable and efficient. Put it this way: when I decided to free upgrade my own Win7 machine, I took a full system image to revert to, just in case I felt the need. It's a year or so later and I have never felt such a need.

 

[SteveP29]

as an OS it seems pretty stable and efficient.

If the specs of your computer are above the minimum, then it works like a dream.
My parents desktop was running 8.1 when it was bought, I hated it, at the time, my laptop was Vista (which I also loved btw, I don't see the reason for the hate it got) so I thankfully never had to use 8.1 that much. When the upgrade was available I took it. Only having 2Gb RAM made it very slow and caused many crashes (BSOD is back with a vengeance), but since I added another 2GB of RAM, its been like a dream, really quick, really responsive

 

[najaB]

Win10 isn't free any longer, although there may be less-than-honest ways to still get it.

Windows 10 is still available for free to users of assistive technology (e.g. screen readers) with no actual check that they actually use them. Make of that what you will. This upgrade path is going to be removed soon though (before the end of the year if memory serves correctly).

After further reading it would appear that free security updates are provided as extended support.

Indeed, Microsoft will provide security updates for five years after the end of mainstream support.

 

[Crossover]

2020 is the date for cessation of extended support for Windows 7 - this means it will go the same way as XP did the other year and will no longer be updated. I am planning on an exit from Windows 7 on our company devices

As an aside, I believe that once an OS is in extended support from Microsoft, it essentially means no more feature enhancements, just bug/security fixes

 

[AndrewE]

I have just updated to a new laptop running Windows 10... which was completely stuffed this morning, I think by a Windows or Dell update that came in when I shut down yesterday! Going back seems to have worked (fingers crossed) but luckily the old machine on XP doesn't get updated, so it still worked. I've also discovered that an f8 startup doesn't work in Windows 10!

 

[Crossover]

Yesterday was 'Patch Tuesday' so there will have been a number of updates gone out overnight. I'm sure the F8 startup option should still work in Windows 10

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Yesterday was 'Patch Tuesday' so there will have been a number of updates gone out overnight. I'm sure the F8 startup option should still work in Windows 10

"Patch Tuesday" saw a number of updates automatically install on my HP Desktop computer without any problem this week.

 

[AndrewE]

Yesterday was 'Patch Tuesday' so there will have been a number of updates gone out overnight. I'm sure the F8 startup option should still work in Windows 10

It doesn't. From Windows help page https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/12376/windows-10-start-your-pc-in-safe-mode:

1. Restart your PC. When you get to the sign-in screen, hold the Shift key down while you select Power
   

   

   
   
   > Restart.
   [*]After your PC restarts to the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart.
   [*]After your PC restarts, you'll see a list of options. Select 4 or F4 to start your PC in Safe Mode. Or if you'll need to use the Internet, select 5 or F5 for Safe Mode with Networking.[/QUOTE

 

[Howardh]

If you took the plunge and moved to 10, then in a few years support for that will end, so maybe the best option now is to wait for the 2020 version of windows.


Still want XP back....

 

[najaB]

If you took the plunge and moved to 10, then in a few years support for that will end.

No it won't. You're looking at 2025 until the end of extended support but that's only the original version - if you install feature updates then you get continued support.

 

[Harpers Tate]

Unless and until they change their mind, Win10 is the "last" version of Windows. It comes with free updates "for life" (whatever that means) as long as you keep it up to date. There have already been four (I think) major updates, each of which is effectively a fresh installation. The present version is 1709.

 

[Howardh]

Unless and until they change their mind, Win10 is the "last" version of Windows. It comes with free updates "for life" (whatever that means) as long as you keep it up to date. There have already been four (I think) major updates, each of which is effectively a fresh installation. The present version is 1709.

That's news to me (thanks), but won't "windows" simply be replaced by a different OS - let's face it there's Linux, so having a brand-new OS provided by Microsoft isn't out of the question.
We've had "Windows", I suppose next is "Doors". Doors Vista....hmmm.

 

[AndrewE]

If you took the plunge and moved to 10... Still want XP back....

I moved on because lots of webpages and other programs don't work very well on XP and especially as we are being told that it is no longer secure. I understand that the security vulnerability is down to the fact that XP uses an outdated communications protocol, or something like that. The old laptop is creaking too, so I'm keeping it for specialist non-comunicating tasks like spreadsheets, presentations etc.

 

[nlogax]

XP is as dead as a doornail, or should be. The fact that it still runs in some UK police forces (and on 5% of globally tracked Windows systems as a whole) is quite telling though. It just..worked, and worked well. Though during the early 2000s I had the 'privilege' of supporting 500 systems running it while it was a new OS and I still have the mental scars!

 

[najaB]

It just..worked, and worked well. Though during the early 2000s I had the 'privilege' of supporting 500 systems running it while it was a new OS and I still have the mental scars!

Given that it was the fifth attempt, it's not surprising they finally got it right.

 

[Crossover]

It doesn't. From Windows help page https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/12376/windows-10-start-your-pc-in-safe-mode:

I wasn't aware of that - will bear it in mind

Unless and until they change their mind, Win10 is the "last" version of Windows. It comes with free updates "for life" (whatever that means) as long as you keep it up to date. There have already been four (I think) major updates, each of which is effectively a fresh installation. The present version is 1709.

1511, 1603, 1609, 1703 and 1709 from memory. I believe that each version is only supported for a year or so after it goes out of "production" (i.e. machines still on 1603 are no longer supported if I recall correctly)

That's news to me (thanks), but won't "windows" simply be replaced by a different OS - let's face it there's Linux, so having a brand-new OS provided by Microsoft isn't out of the question.
We've had "Windows", I suppose next is "Doors". Doors Vista....hmmm.

Backdoor Vista

XP is as dead as a doornail, or should be. The fact that it still runs in some UK police forces (and on 5% of globally tracked Windows systems as a whole) is quite telling though. It just..worked, and worked well. Though during the early 2000s I had the 'privilege' of supporting 500 systems running it while it was a new OS and I still have the mental scars!

I dealt with some fallout of a Windows 98 to XP upgrade in 2005 as half the PC's it was installed on couldn't run it without loads of hardware work. XP annoys me now as it doesn't have a lot of the features I have become used to since Vista days. Thankfully I don't support much XP (or XP derived) kit anymore, but still have more than I'd like to!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Is it generally accepted that Windows 7 was a great improvement over Windows Vista, but Windows 8 was not an overwhelming success when introduced to follow on from Windows 7?

 

[D365]

Is it generally accepted that Windows 7 was a great improvement over Windows Vista, but Windows 8 was not an overwhelming success when introduced to follow on from Windows 7?

Windows had a habit of usually alternating between "solid" and "mediocre" releases. See 98 > ME, XP > Vista, 7 >8.

 

[najaB]

Windows had a habit of usually alternating between "solid" and "mediocre" releases. See 98 > ME, XP > Vista, 7 >8.

Unlike Star Trek, avoid the even numbers (Windows 10 is actually 9).

 

[Dent]

(Windows 10 is actually 9).

Windows 10 is actually the 11th version of Windows, not the 9th. After Windows 1, 2 and 3 there was Windows 95 (4th version), 98 (5th version), ME (6th version), XP (7th version), Vista (8th version), 7 (9th version), 8 (10th version) then 10 (11th version).

 

[najaB]

Windows 10 is actually the 11th version of Windows, not the 9th. After Windows 1, 2 and 3 there was Windows 95 (4th version), 98 (5th version), ME (6th version), XP (7th version), Vista (8th version), 7 (9th version), 8 (10th version) then 10 (11th version).

If you count the NT code-base (the Consumer code base was dropped after Me), ignoring MS's internal code numbers and looking at the major changes to the code then you've got NT 4 (4), 2000 (5), XP (6), Vista (7), 7 (7.5), 8 /8.1 (8), and 10 (9).

They actually number them as: 2000 (NT 5.0), XP (NT 5.2), Vista (NT 6.0), 7 (NT 6.1), 8 (NT 6.2), 8.1 (NT 6.3) and 10 (NT 10.0).

 

[nlogax]

Given that it was the fifth attempt, it's not surprising they finally got it right.

To be fair, XP was built on the fairly solid base of its Windows NT/2000 predecessors. Any laptop made of balsa wood, twigs and a half assed Windows Whistler beta would have been more reliable than the 16 bit desktop OSen of the Windows 9x/ME variety.

 

[Harpers Tate]

Is it generally accepted that Windows 7 was a great improvement over Windows Vista, but Windows 8 was not an overwhelming success when introduced to follow on from Windows 7?

I'd tend to agree with that. 8.1 was a partial attempt at undoing the damage and wasn't terrible; 10 from a functional/UI point of view is closer to what one might call "classic windows" - XP through to 7 - than 8 was, and is (IMO) all the better for it.