Articles about Windows 7

Windows 8.1 is old, Windows 7 is all but decrepit, and Microsoft is now all about Windows 10. The somewhat aggressive pushing of Windows 10 to consumers has been criticized, and this reached something of a head last week when Microsoft announced that nextgen CPUs will only support Windows 10.

Building on this announcement, Microsoft has published a list of more than 100 Skylake systems that will offer Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 support -- until July 17, 2017, that is. In spite of Microsoft's eagerness to push consumers and businesses to Windows 10, there are still dozens of systems from Dell, HP, Lenovo, and NEC that can be configured with the older operating systems.

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Fed up of Microsoft aggressively pushing Windows 10 on you? Happy to stick with Windows 7 or 8.1? You’re not alone.

Microsoft doesn’t make it easy to say no to Windows 10 (wouldn’t it be great if there was a "no thanks" button you could click to make the upgrade message and installation files simply go away?) but you can reject it using a Group Policy Setting or a registry tweak.

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Microsoft managed to piss off a lot of people with Windows 10. Some people love it, but certainly nowhere near 100 percent of the install base (whatever size Microsoft claims this may be). It's possible for any operating system to be disappointing, but what Microsoft has managed to get wrong with Windows 10 -- time and time and time again -- is the way upgrades have been delivered.

We've had stories of installation files being downloaded without permission. There are the privacy concerns. There is the confusing installation process that has misled some into upgrading to Windows 10. But even after weeks and months of complaints, the forced Windows 10 upgrades are still happening. If anything, the problem is getting worse. Microsoft is making it harder and harder for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users to avoid Windows 10. A coerced user is not a happy user, yet Microsoft continues to force Windows 10 down people's throats in a number of ways. WT actual F?

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Microsoft really, really wants people to upgrade to Windows 10. Even though the new OS is free, users of Windows 7 and 8.1 are proving a bit reluctant to switch, so the software giant has rolled out some new updates for the older operating systems which promise to make the upgrade much smoother for those who do decide to take the plunge.

There are two updates available now, one for Windows 7 and one for Windows 8.1, both of which make improvements to the Windows Update Client.

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NetMarketShare has released its usage share figures for November, and they make for interesting reading. As you would expect, Windows 10 grew its share again, but the growth rate is clearly tailing off, continuing the trend we’ve seen over the past few months.

Windows 7 and 8.x users show no great rush to migrate to the new OS, with only Windows XP shedding users.

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I consider myself a patient person. After more than 25 years in the IT industry you sort of have to be. When I bought my first real hybrid 2-in-1 PC -- an HP Envy x2 -- I learned to put up with the many quirks of the then brand-new Windows 8. And when Windows 8.1 arrived, I tolerated several weeks of display artifacts and other graphical anomalies, confident that they would all get sorted out -- eventually.

Which they did. In fact, for each case a new round of device drivers -- specifically, for the Envy x2’s Atom Z2760 chipset and associated Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) video subsystem -- cured what ailed it. So it’s understandable that I would expect a similar scenario to play out with Windows 10. After all, Microsoft’s new OS is really just a retread of Windows 8 (which was itself a retread of Windows 7, etc.). And my trusty Envy x2 excels at running Windows 8.1.

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The adoption of Windows 10 is slowing, and that trend is set to continue -- largely thanks to Microsoft. In an unusual move, the company has extended the availability of Windows 7 so it will be possible to buy computers with the operating system pre-installed until the end of October next year.

What's particularly interesting about this is that it means that Windows 7 will be available to buy for longer than Windows 8. Many would take this as an admission of the widespread dislike for Windows 8, but it also offers a lifeline to anyone who wants a new computer without Windows 10.

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It’s that time of the month again when NetMarketShare releases its desktop operating system usage share figures and we get to see how well (or not) the various flavors of Microsoft’s operating system are doing. In October, Windows 10 gained usage share, while all other versions of Windows lost share. That’s to be expected of course.

However, it’s far from great news for Microsoft as Windows 10’s growth once again slowed. Making the new OS free to upgraders, and advertising it heavily still doesn’t seem enough to get people to make the switch. No wonder Microsoft has started using bullyboy tactics.

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The release of Windows 10 has been a rollercoaster ride of excitement, frustration, and disappointment. But with the Insider program Microsoft has given itself a unique opportunity to address issues and try out new features, testing them out on hardcore users.

With the release of Windows 10 Build 10565 we see not only the introduction of a number of new features, but also a change to the way the activation process works. Some people have experienced problems activating Windows 10 after performing the free upgrade. A Windows 10 product key may no longer be needed, but this latest Insider build introduces the option of activating Windows 10 using a Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 product key.

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If you’re a Windows 7 user, you might want to check carefully which updates you install. Users on Windows forums, Reddit and Twitter are concerned about a new "important" update that looks more than a little suspicious.

The update appears to be a language pack, but the details that accompany it are far from the usual information you’d expect to see, leaving many to wonder if Microsoft's update servers could have been compromised.

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Just last week Microsoft managed to piss off a lot of people by secretly downloading the Windows 10 installation files to their computers without permission. The comments from BetaNews readers were plentiful, but divided. Some didn't see the problem, while others thought it to be invasive and presumptive.

But there was one question that popped up again and again -- just what the hell was Microsoft thinking? I decided to try to find out but found that the company was somewhat cagey with what it wanted to say on the matter. This is not on. People are more than a little annoyed, and they are demanding answers. They deserve them.

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Microsoft has reportedly been downloading Windows 10 installation files on to computers running Windows 7 and 8.x, regardless of whether the users plan to upgrade to the new OS or not.

If you’re thinking of making the switch, and have requested an upgrade, that is fair enough. But if you’re more than happy to stick with your older OS for now, you might not be too happy about Microsoft cluttering up your hard drive with junk install files you don’t want. Fortunately, removing these files is easy enough.

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Windows 10 may have restored the Start menu, but its Windows 8-style redesign isn’t to everyone’s taste.

If you’re not happy with the new look then Stardock’s Start10 gives you some stylish and configurable alternatives.

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It's been roughly a month since the release of Windows 10, Microsoft's newest desktop operating system. It packs in several enticing features including the digital assistant Cortana. But despite all the interesting offerings, Windows 10 isn't sitting well with many. Privacy advocates have criticized Microsoft for introducing several features that are seemingly concerning to those who care about their privacy. To make things worse, the company has now rolled out some of these annoying features to Windows 7 and Windows 8.

First spotted by Ghacks, some of the recent updates that Microsoft rolled out to Windows 8 and Windows 7 set a computer to regularly send reports of a machine's activities to Microsoft. The update dubbed 3068708, for instance, introduces the Diagnostics and Telemetry tracking service on the computers it is installed on. "By applying this service, you can add benefits from the latest version of Windows to systems that have not yet upgraded. The update also supports applications that are subscribed to Visual Studio Application Insights", Microsoft describes the purpose of the update.

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Microsoft has teamed up with Laplink to try to encourage people to upgrade from Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 to Windows 10, offering a free copy of PCmover Express to anyone who wants it. Many people took the launch of Windows 10 as an excuse to buy a new computer with it pre-installed -- but then there is the problem of accessing the files stored on the old PC.

While it is possible to manually move files to your new computer, it's not something that everyone is comfortable with. Microsoft's solution to provide people with a data transfer tool for free is one that's likely to attract some attention, so here’s what you need to do to take advantage of this time-limited offer.

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