GIVE FEEDBACK

Generating Print Page
Posted in News on 07/2/2020

Windows 7 support has ended - what to do so your team can keep calm and carry on

You’ve seen the popup notifications. Around you, colleagues refer to it in hushed tones, and there’s a vague sense of impending threat in the atmosphere.

This is it – the end of Windows 7 support as you know it.

What does it mean for your business?

When Windows 7 was first released in 2009, Microsoft promised to provide support for Windows 7 for the following 10 years.

However, time’s run out on that promise, and Microsoft officially declared the end of Windows 7 support on January 14, 2020.

Technical assistance and software updates from Windows Update that protected PCs are no longer available for Windows 7 and related services such as Internet Explorer.

This matters if you have devices running Windows 7 because Microsoft will no longer be issuing security updates for the operating system, and cyber-attackers will be able to exploit any vulnerabilities found affecting Windows 7.

Ransomware, credential stuffing, and other cyber-attacks are now going to be targeting devices that haven’t been updated.

Microsoft has officially recommended Windows 7 users to move to a new device with Windows 10 installed. It also doesn’t recommend for users to install Windows 10 on an older device as some Windows 7 devices are incompatible with Windows 10 or could experience reduced feature availability.

What are your options?

If you’ve hung on to a Windows 7 operating system until now, you probably have legacy mission-critical software that only runs on Windows 7. Your solutions provider should already have a Windows 10-compatible version of the software available. If so, you should upgrade your device and update your software.

If no such update is available, another option you have is to remove that device from the network completely so it doesn’t put your data and your organisation at risk, continue running it on a single Windows 7 device, and update the other devices in your fleet to Windows 10.

Last but not least, consider taking the plunge and updating your devices and operating systems to Windows 10.

Most leading technology resellers currently have generous offers available to help businesses with this transition.

Doing this will ensure your organisation is not being put at a risk that can completely outweigh the cost of installing a new operating systems or devices.

If you need more guidance, we're here to help – talk to our business specialists today.