Microsoft made a commitment to provide 10 years of product support for Windows 7 when it was released on October 22, 2009.
When this 10-year period ends, Microsoft will discontinue Windows 7 support so that they can focus their investment on supporting newer technologies and great new experiences.
The specific end of support day for Windows 7 will be January 14, 2020. After that, technical assistance and software updates from Windows Update that help protect your PC will no longer be available for the product.
Microsoft strongly recommends that you move to Windows 10 sometime before January 2020 to avoid a situation where you need service or support that is no longer available.
After January 14, 2020, if your PC is running Windows 7, it will no longer receive security updates.
Therefore, it's important that you upgrade to a modern operating system such as Windows 10, which can provide the latest security updates to help keep you and your data safer. In addition, Microsoft customer service will no longer be available to provide Windows 7 technical support.
For most Windows 7 users, moving to a new device with Windows 10 will be the recommended path forward. Today's PCs are faster, lightweight yet powerful, and more secure, with an average price that's considerably less than that of the average PC eight years ago.
To take advantage of the latest hardware capabilities, we recommend moving to a new or refurbished PC with Windows 10. As an alternative, compatible Windows 7 PCs can be upgraded by purchasing and installing a full version of the software. We recommend that you don’t install Windows 10 on an older device, as some Windows 7 devices are not compatible with Windows 10 or could experience reduced feature availability.
If you continue to use Windows 7 after support has ended, your PC will still work, but it will become more vulnerable to security risks and viruses. Your PC will continue to start and run, but you will no longer received software updates, including security updates, from Microsoft.
Support for Internet Explorer on a Windows 7 device will also be discontinued on January 14, 2020.
As a component of Windows, Internet Explorer follows the support lifecycle of the Windows operating system it’s installed on. If you're running Microsoft Office on a Windows 7 PC, we recommend you move to a Windows 10 PC.
Third party software will also follow the same route, for example accounts packages such as Sage, Quickbooks etc will remove support in time for Windows 7 platforms with dates varying from vendor to vendor.
If you need further advice or would like to help us migrate you from Windows 7 to Windows 10 please get in touch with us now. Affinity will still support equipment running Windows 7, however our support services while still provided, will inevitably be degraded due to no underpinning service from Microsoft.
To add to this the National Cyber Security Centre’s new e-learning package 'Top Tips For Staff' can be completed online, or built into your own training platform view here as well viewing some top tips to stay safe online view here.
