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Care about your security? Then leave Windows 7 says Microsoft


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Microsoft is highlighting the security strengths of Windows 10 as the company waves an ‘early goodbye’ to Windows 7, with a reminder that support for the old operating system ends in three years’ time.

So, yes, this is a very early goodbye indeed, and the farewell is currently only being waved on a German Microsoft site – but it’s a clear indication that Microsoft still wants to push its newest OS to the fullest extent possible.

The company notes that extended support for Windows 7 expires on January 14, 2020, and as we enter that fresh decade, there will be no further security updates, or indeed OS updates or technical support provided by Microsoft.

Long-outdated security

In the post, the software giant warns that Windows 7 is no longer capable of keeping up with the “increased security requirements” applicable to the PCs of today, and it’s based on “long-outdated security architectures”, adding that organisations using the OS are running the risk of costly incidents due to malware attacks – or indeed increased usage of technical support for things such as driver issues.

Microsoft stated: “Many hardware manufacturers no longer provide drivers for Windows 7, which means that modern peripherals such as printers are no longer recognised.”

At any rate, you get the general message – you’ve only got three years left, but you should upgrade now anyway, or suffer at the hands of ‘outdated’ security compared to Windows 10 (which has, among other things, Windows Hello biometric logins, Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection, and more).

In case you thought the free upgrade offer to Windows 10 expired a long time back, in actual fact it’s still possible for individuals to upgrade via two methods.

Apparently using an old Windows 7/8.1 product key still works to get the freebie, as does applying because you need assistive technologies (even if you don’t – as this isn’t verified, although obviously this is a morally dubious route). We wrote about the above loopholes still being available at the start of the year.

Via: Betanews

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interesting but didn't windows 10 have all of those privacy concerns?

yes indeed , win 10 is full of snoop ware , and advocates of win 10 will tell you that you can simply turn off  these features , but they are sadly mistaken ...

 

"Our product is so superior, we're just gonna give it away for free!"

 

Said no corporation, ever.

it is interesting that not only did they give win 10 away but as well they forced it on people in the form of a security update that would not allow you to opt out , but instead would go ahead and begin the upgrade , with no way to stop it , ... the only way around this was to turn off all updates , (which is something i do anyway )

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I havent did update to my windows 7 in three years at least on my desktop..got avast running..never have trouble.. i run malwbytes..every so ofeten ..finds nothing ..updates are a scam thinks i..sometimes your unit runs worse after updates..it's a conspiracy i tell you...I'm not encouraging anyone.. just my opinion..I'm not worried.. i got a cheap laptop i let w10 rape just to see..i could always print of the laptop i guess

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Interesting.  It's like...what's the point of the upgrade if you end up having to turn off crap you didn't ask for? Although,  as a privacy concern, I'd be just as worried about facebook, google;etc.

 

Besides, we're probably going to upgrade within that 3 year period simply because of the need/want for a new machine/os. It's how we think and they know this.

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Interesting.  It's like...what's the point of the upgrade if you end up having to turn off crap you didn't ask for? Although,  as a privacy concern, I'd be just as worried about facebook, google;etc.

 

Besides, we're probably going to upgrade within that 3 year period simply because of the need/want for a new machine/os. It's how we think and they know this.

yes i worry about facebook and google ... bastids ,,, but i can say this , my partner and i have been modifying win xp simply because its been abandoned and its fair game , and get this !!!....we have a version of windows xp that is 64 bit , and can recognize 16gb of memory , it basically will do anything win 7 and above does as far as running software and it is super uber fast , mainly because its not weighted down with crap , i realize this isnt a practical option for most other people but it is proof that we are being sold a bunch of crap by microsoft ,,, sadly microsoft recently joined the linux community , so there goes the neighborhood , but there is a growing number of alternative O.S. being noodled about , with some very promising results , im sure there are more than a few users out there that want an O.S. that is efficient and free of the bloat and snoop ware , users that dont care about active tiles or constant social media updates , and users that would prefer thier online viewing habbits not be used to predict thier shopping and lifestyle behavior , and dont even get me started on smart phones .....

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my partner and i have been modifying win xp simply because its been abandoned and its fair game , and get this !!!....we have a version of windows xp that is 64 bit , and can recognize 16gb of memory , it basically will do anything win 7 and above does as far as running software

I've done similar things with Win 98 and NT 4.0. Win98 turned into a stability nightmare, but I was able to get some extended libraries and full USB removable drive support out of the deal, which was pretty cool.

 

Now in my opinion, Win XP x64 was a complete disaster. I'd rather patch in Server 2003 PAE into 32-bit XP than deal with x64 XP. Let's start with drivers for example. ;)

Unfortunately the claim regarding software isn't completely true- especially with XP x64. I wish it were, and I have plenty of clients who have rock solid industrial XP machines with no incentive to upgrade, so I wish it were true for their sake. But it simply isn't. You've got so many new versions of libraries and programming languages that XP simply cannot support. And as the market share for XP dwindles, what incentives do developers have to spend hours porting their code to an ancient version of some .NET/Python/etc framework?

 

I think the issues regarding securing the kernel and adding higher levels of encryption support can be addressed (if folks want to spend their time doing that), but eventually we're going to be in a situation where going online with WinXP isn't just going to be a bad idea, it's just not going to work unless you load a modified version of some webpages (such as what some people do on their old PPC macs).

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Im not much a PC wiz... i got donated a Systemax PC running XP I'm sure it's a 32 bit .. blowing power supplies ..i put plastic washers to make standoffs on mother board mounts ..that was problem..grounding out after heat up..was ok last i checked a year ago..also got a Compac with failed HDD had Vista..i took a HDD out of sons old broken 486 i think ..or was it 386..for laffs put a Slitaz distro think takes 34 mb space on it haha..Midori browser .... been in bottom of closet 8 years at least..may have to rig system battery.. maybe dead..i use to fool around years ago for a hobby..it was fun..i was curious about Linux..those were fun years tinkering...i should light em up to see can still browse internet..this thread reminded me of them

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