Karlston Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 What happens after Windows 7's retirement? The January end-of-support deadline for Windows 7 is fast approaching. Here's a rundown of some of the issues companies should keep in mind as that date draws near. Getty Images / Microsoft The Redmond doctor came into the room, huffed a chair into place, but wouldn't meet Windows 7's eyes, just stared at the desk. "I'm afraid it's bad news," the physician said. Windows 7 let out a long sigh. "It's terminal," the M.D. said. As if Windows 7 hadn't known it was on borrowed time since July 2015. That scare in the fall of 2012 had been irksome, nothing more. But then three years later, the end was clearly in sight. And here it was. "Ten weeks," the doctor said, gazing out the window at the fall leaves. "Maybe eleven. But then...." What happens to Windows 7 then? Nothing immediately. The operating system will continue to work or not, as it did or didn't, for each user the day before support retirement. That's important to remember, if only because some still don't — assuming that after midnight on Jan. 14, 2020, the OS screeches to a stop. Even Microsoft reminds customers that Windows 7 will continue to run post-retirement, although it could move those reminders closer to the top of its to-do list. In this FAQ about the end of support, Microsoft waited until the fifth item before making note of the operating system's resilience. "If you continue to use Windows 7 after support has ended, your PC will still work," Microsoft pledged, also noting, "Your PC will continue to start and run." Good to know, thanks. But customer support comes to a halt — theoretically, Microsoft's phone- and chat-based support won't answer questions — as do security updates. Yet unless Microsoft issues an emergency update in the four weeks after Jan. 14, the first fixes Windows 7 users will miss arrive Feb. 11. Until then, an out-of-date Windows 7 system will be as patched as if support had continued. What happens to Office when Windows 7 drops from support? That depends on the type of Office. Office 365, the version paid by subscription — whether for one, as in Office 365 Personal, or for thousands, as in Office 365 Enterprise E5 — will continue to receive security updates on unsupported copies of Windows 7 until January 2023. That's the good news. The bad? Office 365, whose premise is one of constant evolution, will not upgrade to new features or functionality. The feature set, in other words, will lock down and stay that way. On the Office flip side — those versions sold as "perpetual licenses," such as Office 2010 or 2016 — will be supported through each suite's standard span. (Remember: Perpetually licensed Office, a.k.a. non-subscription Office, only receives bug fixes, never feature updates or improvements.) Office 2010, for instance, will be supported until Oct. 13, 2020; Office 2013, until April 10, 2023; and Office 2016, until Oct. 14, 2025. The most recent perpetually licensed suite, Office 2019, is supported only on Windows 10. Microsoft did set a caveat, however, on Office support. "If the problem is a result of the combination of Office and an unsupported operating system, the problem will not be supported (emphasis added)," the company stated. The January 2023 end-of-security-updates deadline wasn't plucked from the air. It was chosen because that's how long Microsoft will provide Windows 7 patches for payment through its Extended Security Updates (ESU). Microsoft realized that if it sold ESU to commercial customers, it also had to keep patching Office. What about Internet Explorer? Unlike Office, Microsoft will stop patching Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) at the same time it halts updates to Windows 7. In other words, on Jan. 14, 2020. "As a component of Windows, Internet Explorer follows the support lifecycle of the Windows operating system it's installed on," Microsoft says — and has for ages, since that's been boilerplate for seemingly forever. But elsewhere, the firm put it plainly. "Support for Internet Explorer on a Windows 7 device will also be discontinued on January 14, 2020," it said here. The only way to keep receiving IE11 security updates in Windows 7 is to pay for Extended Security Updates (ESU). What happens to the antivirus defense we use? That depends on the antivirus vendor's policies and practices. Just as happened at the retirement of Windows XP in April 2014, expect that most credible AV makers will continue to pump out new definition updates — the "fingerprints" that identify newly-found malware to the scanner — for Windows 7 long after the OS has fallen off the support list. The three-year availability of Extended Security Updates (ESU) to business customers will guarantee AV vendors that cater to the corporate market will keep definition releases going. AV support may quickly be limited to issuing definition updates, although some vendors will continue to refresh products with new or enhanced features. For reference, Symantec moved Windows XP (retired 4/14) and Vista (4/17) to what it calls "Maintenance Mode" only in June 2018. As of that date, Symantec said, "New product capabilities will no longer be provided." But already-installed software "will continue to receive the latest malware definitions" as well as "vulnerability updates and compatibility fixes." Microsoft has not yet said what it will do for Security Essentials, the free anti-malware product for Windows 7. Again, a look to Windows XP is worthwhile: Microsoft provided definition updates for more than a year after XP's retirement. What happens if we can't get off Windows 7, but can't run unpatched PCs? Microsoft will gladly sell commercial customers, from the smallest businesses to the largest enterprises, what it calls "Extended Security Updates," or ESUs, that provide security updates to patch "Critical" and "Important" vulnerabilities through mid-January 2023...for a price. The per-device plans will be sold in one-year increments for up to three years, with prices for larger customers running as high as $350 per PC for all three years. (Costs for smaller businesses won't be revealed until Dec. 1.) Although Microsoft dubbed ESU the "last resort" for Windows 7 customers, it spent a large chunk of this "End of Support FAQ" describing the service, drawing its boundaries and extolling its benefits. ESU is, by far and away, the most transparent post-retirement security support concept Microsoft has launched. The company recognizes that many businesses will not make the deadline and so it wants a solution, temporary if that, or is eager to use what may be the last ever such OS transition to generate additional revenue. Or both. Note that ESU has no bearing on security updates for Office 365 ProPlus — the part of an Office 365 subscription that provides the locally installed applications — on Windows 7. Even Windows 7-powered PCs that are not covered by ESU will continue to receive patches for Office 365 ProPlus. Microsoft made that clear in the FAQ: "Windows 7 ESU will have no impact on support for Office 365 ProPlus on Windows 7," it read. Source: What happens after Windows 7's retirement? (Computerworld - Gregg Keizer) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 This is what will happen if you still use Windows Windows 8.1 have less new hardware soupprt than Windows 7 so it not really and option unless your using old hardware with outdated drivers. Only other one you have is to use Windows Server standard and it's is 300 bucks and remove most of the server stuff if you dont want bloated Windows 10 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karlston Posted October 31, 2019 Author Share Posted October 31, 2019 37 minutes ago, steven36 said: Only other one you have is to use Windows Server standard and it's is 300 bucks and remove most of the server stuff if you dont want bloated Windows 10 . Interesting videos, thanks, haven't seen anyone else mention Windows Server as a W10 alternative. He mentions that Microsoft making manufacturers develop drivers only for W10 is tinfoil-hat stuff. IIRC, Microsoft spent a lot of resources lobbying Intel to go this way with Intel motherboard chipset drivers. For M$ and W10 that was a master stroke, make Intel motherboards W10 only, and it doesn't matter what other hardware manufacturers do, get a new Intel motherboard and you have one OS choice, Windows 10. My next rig will have to be Windows 10, sadly. Windows 10 2019 LTSC at this stage, since it's the most controllable and excludes a lot of the crap that comes with Pro. BTW, his 8.1 gaming rig would have been fine if he'd used an nVidia GPU. nVidia still does 7 & 8.1 drivers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 45 minutes ago, Karlston said: Interesting videos, thanks, haven't seen anyone else mention Windows Server as a W10 alternative. He mentions that Microsoft making manufacturers develop drivers only for W10 is tinfoil-hat stuff. IIRC, Microsoft spent a lot of resources lobbying Intel to go this way with Intel motherboard chipset drivers. For M$ and W10 that was a master stroke, make Intel motherboards W10 only, and it doesn't matter what other hardware manufacturers do, get a new Intel motherboard and you have one OS choice, Windows 10. My next rig will have to be Windows 10, sadly. Windows 10 2019 LTSC at this stage, since it's the most controllable and excludes a lot of the crap that comes with Pro. BTW, his 8.1 gaming rig would have been fine if he'd used an nVidia GPU. nVidia still does 7 & 8.1 drivers He was making a gaming rig out of his laptop he wasn't building a computer that the reason he had to download drivers and install them most desktops are compatible with server out the box . He is giving people a legal option if they want to game .LTSC for consumer is piracy i never have like depending on illegal activation for my OS. That why I switch to Linux. Me being a tester of warez before i seen stuff work for years then the developer kill it . I never pirated Windows and I'm not going to start now . Windows 8.1 is like Vista it will have crappy support tell it goes to the graveyard . AMD drop support on most older hardware long ago so it dont have good Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 soupprt but they have good Linux support for older hardware. That guy in that video is a Microsoft certified IT who installs Windows 10 and Server for a Living but he hated Windows 10 so much he switch to using Linux for his own use so he has access to Enterprise stuff. but that's not legal to teach people on YouTube how to pirate it But once he started posting videos about Linux and Windows he has new job doing that . So now he is only working in the field like 3 days a week now. Hes a YouTube star. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mp68terr Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 Linux, yes, with w7 in a virtual machine without access to the net. There are still people around who (will) want to use some apps compatible with win(<10). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy2004 Posted November 1, 2019 Share Posted November 1, 2019 nothing will happen when windows 7 support ends.. companies will still continue to use it.. hell my current library still uses windows XP on their systems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arsenaloyal Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 On 11/1/2019 at 3:38 PM, andy2004 said: nothing will happen when windows 7 support ends.. companies will still continue to use it.. hell my current library still uses windows XP on their systems. That's true actually! Windows 7 can be run in am PC till the hardware fails. Probably have to be a bot more cautious that's all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zanderthunder Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 When Windows 7 retires, life goes on. Those who still use Windows 7, either they purchase the extended support or running Windows 7 completely isolated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mp68terr Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 W7 users can also expect leaked 'Extended Security Updates' after w7 retirement. Will these updates be signed to reflect the companies that are supposed to use them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankl1n Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 On 10/30/2019 at 11:38 PM, Karlston said: What happens after Windows 7's retirement? no more patches to fcuk up your system! On 10/30/2019 at 11:38 PM, Karlston said: What happens to Office when Windows 7 drops from support? lol, do people actually use this, many better alternatives out there. On 10/30/2019 at 11:38 PM, Karlston said: What about Internet Explorer? Internet what? lmao On 10/30/2019 at 11:38 PM, Karlston said: What happens to the antivirus defense we use? lmao, AVs are totally worthless these days. On 10/30/2019 at 11:38 PM, Karlston said: What happens if we can't get off Windows 7, but can't run unpatched PCs? Why could you not run an unpatched PC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy2004 Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 Office.. i prefer and use openoffice.. i think or the other one.. libraoffice thats it. The only thing about windows 7 would be if the minimum hardware requirements are higher.. or no drivers available for windows 7 on a new device. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalju Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 Don't make panic again. Nothing happens! As you remember, Windows XP support disappears April 2014, so more than 5 years ago, however, Windows XP is still in use. Why panic again. Nothing significant will happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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