Windows 7 Begins Final Countdown Jan 13, 2015

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 11 Jan 2015 3:45 am

Got this from a Windows Secrets newsletter. Its not time to panic and change Operating System, but time to give it some thought. Win 7 will still be around for 5 years but no more fixes from Microsoft.

Here is the article:
It might be difficult to believe, but on Jan. 13 we begin the final countdown for Windows 7.
On that date, one of Microsoft's best and most successful versions of Windows hits its official "end of mainstream support." Here's what that means for all Win7 users.

Windows 7 enters its extended-support phase
Most major Microsoft products have a formal life cycle that includes two key end-of-life dates. For Windows, those dates are listed on Microsoft's "Windows lifecycle fact sheet" webpage. The first date â€” End of mainstream support â€” effectively means that Microsoft will no longer offer free updates to the operating system.
Once mainstream support ends for a specific version of Windows, it then enters its Extended support phase, during which Microsoft offers only essential fixes and security updates. (Companies can also pay for specific nonsecurity updates.) When an OS reaches its End of extended support milestone, all official support ends. Windows XP, as many Windows Secrets readers know, passed its "End of extended support" date on April 8, 2014. It has not had official updates of any kind since. (For more specifics on MS product life cycles, see the online "Microsoft support lifecycle policy FAQ.")
As noted in the "Windows lifecycle fact sheet," Jan. 13 marks the end of mainstream support for all versions of Windows 7 SP1. What does that mean for the millions of us doing our daily computing on Win7 systems? Very soon, our operating systems will be essentially frozen â€” we'll no longer receive any enhancements or nonessential fixes. We will, however, receive monthly security updates until Jan. 14, 2020, Win7's official "End of extended support" date (at which point, Microsoft will want us on Windows 13 â€” or whatever it's then called).
Just as with XP this past April, Win7 systems should no longer receive updates of any kind after January 2020. And just as XP is now, Windows 7 will then become extremely vulnerable to new malware and exploits. Win7 will continue to work well after 2020 (there's no deadline for your Win7 license), but I wouldn't use it to go online. (I hope all XP users have heeded my advice and are now using some other device for their Internet activities.)
Bottom line: Windows 7 is far from dead, but it is entering its final phase of official life. It's time to plan for that change.

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 11 Jan 2015 7:19 am

Interesting article, Jack, and timely. I subscribe to Windows Secrets too, but I don't get around to reading them as often as I probably should.

I don't jump on the bandwagon every time MS releases a new OS; I skipped Windows 2000 and ME, and I may skip Windows 8. I just don't have the sense it's one of MS's greatest achievements. But you're right - it's smart to be thinking about what's next.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 11 Jan 2015 8:05 am

Windows 8/8.1 is OK if you have a program such as "Start8" (what I have) that will make Win 8/8.1 act like Win 7. It allows booting to the desktop.

My backup system, for my recording studio system, has Win 8.1 on it (I got it when Microsoft offered it for $30 plus). My Win 7 system was down for warranty repair on the Gigabyte motherboard. I used the Win 8.1 system for recording and didn't miss a beat. To be truthful the Win 7 system has an i7 3770 CPU and 16GB of RAM and the backup system has an i5 3550 CPU and 8GB of RAM and Win 8.1 seemed to be faster than Win 7. Neither system is OC'd.

I have the pre-release Windows 10 loaded on the backup system. I will probably go to Win 10 when its released and skip Win 8.1 as my main system. The Win 10 system has Sonar X3 (my recording DAW program) and the drivers for my recording interface unit (Roland Studio-Capture) and testing it runs the software without problems.

Michael Haselman · Post by **Michael Haselman** » 6 Feb 2015 6:23 pm

Will there be a point where they start giving away Windows 7? I was thinking of upgrading my '09 laptop from Vista to W7 but they still want upwards of $50 for it. Don't think that's cost effective now.

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 6 Feb 2015 8:42 pm

Michael Haselman wrote:Will there be a point where they start giving away Windows 7? I was thinking of upgrading my '09 laptop from Vista to W7 but they still want upwards of $50 for it. Don't think that's cost effective now.

No. The opposite is true. At Microsoft's beckoning, Windows 7 retail disks and licenses are becoming as rare as hen's teeth now. Sales have slowed as the software has now entered phase one of its end of support. With sales of Windows 8 and 8.1 also waning, Microsoft has skipped Windows 9 and is working feverishly on the upcoming release of Windows 10, due out around October 2015 (to custom builders and OEMs).

What is going to be free, for one year after the initial public release of Windows 10, is a free upgrade for Windows 7 and 8 users with a valid license. Of course, it remains to be seen if the hardware that runs Windows 7 can also run Windows 10. In other words, will there be device drivers for the hardware???

Michael Haselman · Post by **Michael Haselman** » 6 Feb 2015 9:15 pm

Thanks, Wiz. I actually don't really need my laptop, have a desktop with 8.1, Android phone, tablet, etc. I did splurge for a 2G memory card for the laptop though. Been running 1G the whole time and Vista is slow as molasses with it. Got the card for $16 on Ebay, figured WTH. Might as well run 'er til she keels over.

Jim Priebe · Post by **Jim Priebe** » 7 Feb 2015 5:04 pm

I have tried to load Windows 10 pre-release on two of my older computers and both the 32 and 64 bit won't load due to the processors non-capability to run certain things like the latest Direct X or equivalent.
Win 7 runs perfectly on them.
So don't be surprised if your 'older' computer will not upgrade. There are compatibility lists but these are a bit hard for any lay person to understand as they are full of acronyms and newly invented term.

Larry Carlson · Post by **Larry Carlson** » 7 Feb 2015 5:06 pm

I am still using Vista.
I am surprised my computer hasn't slipped in to a black hole.

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 7 Feb 2015 7:41 pm

Jim Priebe wrote:I have tried to load Windows 10 pre-release on two of my older computers and both the 32 and 64 bit won't load due to the processors non-capability to run certain things like the latest Direct X or equivalent.
Win 7 runs perfectly on them.
So don't be surprised if your 'older' computer will not upgrade. There are compatibility lists but these are a bit hard for any lay person to understand as they are full of acronyms and newly invented term.

Do you have a link to that hardware compatibility list?

Jim Priebe · Post by **Jim Priebe** » 7 Feb 2015 10:53 pm

I'll find the URL Whiz but from memory it was so useless (only listed things like HP stuff and no clone stuff even common stuff) that I didn't bother with it.
Basically, your processor needs to have all the latest onboard integrated capabilities and that seems to be the crux let alone the mobo.
I will try to get a list of what is and what isn't.

(Edit added) Here's a basic list:

Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with support for PAE, NX, and SSE2
RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver

It's the 'NX' that falls over with older processors for a start. See what I mean about the acronyms !! Just Google them is you want to.
To quote MS - "a Windows 7 machines CPU does not need to support PAE, NX, and SSE2 for the OS to operate whereas on Windows 8 and above, it needs these features" - that sounds pretty simple but it's not really.

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 7 Feb 2015 11:42 pm

Jim Priebe wrote:I'll find the URL Whiz but from memory it was so useless (only listed things like HP stuff and no clone stuff even common stuff) that I didn't bother with it.
Basically, your processor needs to have all the latest onboard integrated capabilities and that seems to be the crux let alone the mobo.
I will try to get a list of what is and what isn't.

I have an Intel Core i3 2100 gpu/cpu, running at 3.1 Ghz on a Gigabyte H67M-D2-B3 board, bought and built in 2011. The Windows Experience Index is 5.1. I'm running Win 7 Home Premium, SP1, 32 bit, with 4 GB RAM

Jim Priebe · Post by **Jim Priebe** » 8 Feb 2015 12:05 am

Any of the core i processors should be fine - it's Celerons mainly (especially older ones) that fall over. The 'dual core' processors are the grey area and I think the Celeron term is now dropped anyway.
If you look at a list of the Intel processors eg. to do a speed comparo, you will find there are a lot of them with various codes and as I said previously it's a bit confusing even for pros.

James Quillian · Post by **James Quillian** » 8 Feb 2015 8:04 am

On my web site stats, every month there are more and more linux systems relative to windows.

Foreign countries seem to be converting rapidly.

Microsoft has never had to respond to competition very much.

I buy software all the time. I run linux as much as possible so as to avoid being herded. That way I can control what my computer does based on what I need.

Linux continues to become more user friendly.

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 8 Feb 2015 6:03 pm

James Quillian wrote:On my web site stats, every month there are more and more linux systems relative to windows.....Linux continues to become more user friendly.

Yeah. Gotta' love all those "linux command lines". Sorta' reminescent of the old Windows DOS days. I buy software pretty regularly as well, and the specs on things I own have never included "Linux".

I don't worry how rich Bill Gates is. I just want software that works. When I use Windows, it does.

Anyone willing to get roped into having to use all those "linux command lines" is being "herded", IMO.

Jim Priebe · Post by **Jim Priebe** » 8 Feb 2015 6:38 pm

Couldn't agree more with you Dave. Managing linux servers is just a pain in the language vocabulary. The 'consumer' products are just in catchup mode (to Windows and Apple) all the time as far as GUI and capability goes. I have it on a couple and end up going back to Windows and coughing up the $$$'s. I can't afford the time (that can mean $$$'s too!) to waste on constantly having to learn language.
If you have to have everything 'free' you just bare the pain and my tolerance is low but if it works for you then go for it.
I do admire those who contribute to it's programming for their persistence and dedication.

James Quillian · Post by **James Quillian** » 8 Feb 2015 8:31 pm

Dave Potter wrote:
James Quillian wrote:On my web site stats, every month there are more and more linux systems relative to windows.....Linux continues to become more user friendly.
Yeah. Gotta' love all those "linux command lines". Sorta' reminescent of the old Windows DOS days. I buy software pretty regularly as well, and the specs on things I own have never included "Linux".

I don't worry how rich Bill Gates is. I just want software that works. When I use Windows, it does.

Anyone willing to get roped into having to use all those "linux command lines" is being "herded", IMO.

Dave, you know a lot more about linux than I do. I guess you have to know a lot to be bothered by command lines. I can't be bothered by what I haven't seen.

I started using ubuntu originally just for going online. There is a lot less stress about being hacked and getting viruses. I was surprised to find a few programs that are extraordinary.

I am not sure why so little commercial software is written for linux systems. That is likely to change because, income and living standards are dropping all over the globe. I still keep a Windows partition on all computers because linux software is in fact still lacking.

I doubt if Bill Gates cares how much you either. There are a lot of brilliant folks at Microsoft. The ones who are most productive are those who know how to use lobbyists and congress to rig markets and capture customers.