Articles about Windows 7

Last month, Microsoft ended support for its Windows 7 and 8.1 operating systems officially. Windows 7 was kept alive by the company for business and Enterprise customers for the past three years through an Extended Security Updates program, but that ran out on the same day as support for Windows 8.1 ended.

Google and Microsoft announced that their browsers, Chrome and Edge, would not support both operating systems after support end. Chrome 109 and Edge 109, released in January 2023, are the last supported versions. The next stable versions, scheduled for a release in early February 2023, won’t support Windows 7 or 8.1 anymore.

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If you have been keeping up with Windows news, you will probably be aware that today is the day that Microsoft finally ends support for Windows 7. This means that after today there will be no further updates, even for anyone paying for Extended Support Updates -- but 0patch is willing to help out.

Any company that does still have Windows 7 and is paying for ESU should install today's cumulative update, as well as any others that may have been missed. And there's a nice surprise: Microsoft has added support for Secure Boot to Windows 7, but has kept quiet about it.

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We've already written about Microsoft completely ending support -- even paid-for options -- for Windows 7 and Windows 8, and as part of this, the company will also stop releasing security update for its Edge browser on these platforms.

There are large numbers of both home users and businesses that are opting to stick with these operating systems, or have little choice for one reason for another. As far as Microsoft is concerned, Edge 109 is the last version of the browser that will be released for these OSes, and as of January there will be no more security update released. Thankfully, 0patch is here to save the day again, with the company announcing that it is "security-adopting" Microsoft Edge on Windows 7, Server 2008 and Server 2012.

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In just a week's time, Microsoft will cease offering even critical security updates for both Windows 7 and Windows 8.x.

We wrote about Windows 7 Extended Security Update (ESU) coming to an end, and the termination of support for Windows 8.x just last month, but with a large number of people and businesses still unwilling -- or unable -- to move on from these aging operating systems it is a warning that bears repeating.

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Although Windows 10 is comfortably the most popular desktop operating system out there, its successor, Windows 11, is slowly gaining on it.

And 'slowly' is definitely the word to use here -- a situation not helped by the new operating system's stricter system requirements which mean it's much harder for users to upgrade older systems to it.

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It is no secret that the uptake of Windows 11 is rather slow. Microsoft may be unlikely to publicly say as much, but the company will no doubt be extremely disappointed at the number of people who have made the leap to the latest version of its operating system.

All this could change in 2023, however. There are many people and businesses who have hung on to Windows 7 or Windows 8, despite the fact that mainstream supported ended back in 2020. But when January 10, 2023 rolls around, Microsoft will no longer even offer paid-for Extended Security Updates. And with the likes of Edge and Chrome no longer supporting the aged OSes, the time really has come to switch to Windows 11.

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Google Chrome is a great web browser for many reasons, including its cross-platform nature. You can run Ubuntu Linux, macOS, Windows, and Android, for instance, and use the same Chrome web browser on all of those operating systems. Thanks to cloud data syncing, you can have a seamless experience too.

With the upcoming Google Chrome 110, however, there will be two fewer operating systems supported. You see, early next year, Google will be dropping support for its web browser on both Windows 7 and 8.1. In other words, if you use Microsoft's desktop operating system, you will need to be on Windows 10 or 11.

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After Microsoft launched Windows 10 back in 2015 it devoted a lot of time and resources to -- shall we say -- 'encouraging' people and businesses to make the switch from Windows 7, even kindly going as far as to automatically upgrading their systems for them.

Things are very different with Windows 11 as Microsoft is happy for the new OS to coexist alongside its predecessor, for the time being at least. There is a downside to this approach however, as it means there’s not the rush to upgrade that Microsoft will have been hoping for, to the point where significantly more businesses are running Windows 7 than Windows 11, despite the former having reached end of life ages ago.

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Windows 11 adoption isn't happening as fast as Microsoft would like, but that’s partly down to the fact that Windows 10 suits most people fine; they know where they are with it, and it doesn’t have the same strict hardware requirements as the latest OS.

For a lot of people though, Windows 7 remains the best operating system Microsoft ever made. If you were wondering how it might look if it was released today, we have the answer.

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These days you no longer need to stick with Microsoft's Windows operating system if you don't want to. There are some excellent Linux distributions you can run instead, like Ubuntu or Linux Lite, or macOS if you opt to switch to Apple hardware. You can even use iPads or Android tablets as laptop alternatives if you prefer.

In 2013, Microsoft Windows accounted for over 90 percent of the total desktop operating system market, but that figure has dropped significantly in the past decade in the face of increased competition.

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While there are plenty of people who do not feel the need to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11, there is still a surprising number of people who decided to stick with even older versions.

There are, of course, many implicated associated with using Windows 7 or Windows 8, most of them security related. But there is also the matter of software support, and Microsoft is now trying to push hangers-on to upgrade to the latest version of its operating system by cutting Windows 7 and 8.x out of using OneDrive.

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Windows 11 is set to start rolling out to compatible systems from next month, but for many people, Microsoft’s operating system design peaked with Windows 7.

Will the brand new operating system win over the doubters? It’s too early to say, but Windows 7 2021 Edition gives us the best of both worlds -- the aged operating system we know and love, brought bang up to date with modern Windows 11 looks and features.

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Every generation of Windows -- well, from Windows 95 onwards at least -- has had a catchy slogan, designed, in some way, to encapsulate what the software giant hoped the OS would bring to users.

With Windows 95, for example, it was "Start me up", because that was the first time Microsoft’s operating system came with a Start button and menu.

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There have been many reasons to move away from the now-ancient Windows 7 for some time, and now there is another one. Microsoft will no longer offer driver updates via Windows Update for this version of the operating system.

The change comes a year and a half after support for Windows 7 came to an end, and also the expiry of the SHA-1 Trusted Root Certificate Authority for Windows 7 SP1, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2 last month. It is a slightly different story for anyone signed up for an Extended Security Update (ESU) program, however.

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Microsoft finally stopped supporting Windows 7 at the start of last year, but the aging OS is still to be found on over 16 percent of Windows systems and many users prefer it to Windows 10 which seems to be plagued with a never-ending stream of buggy updates.

Although the software giant will be giving its new operating system a much needed makeover later this year with new icons, a scalable UI font, and other visual enhancements, it’s still unlikely to win over the hearts and minds of many of the Windows 7 faithful.

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