Windows 7 End Of Support : How does it affect you?

January 14th 2020 is nearly upon us, which means that Windows 7 is about to get it’s last batch of security updates. After that, you’re on your own, no more security updates, no support from Microsoft (without expensive support contracts traditionally used by larger companies with industrial equipment), and the end of the universe as we know it… (ok, maybe not this last one)

What does this really mean to you? This has multiple answers, as well as some generalities that apply to everyone.

Everyone: With no more security updates, the next major bug/vulnerability found in Windows 7 (or even exploits that target multiple versions of Windows) will no longer be resolved on Windows 7. As such, even with updated antivirus, a high-quality firewall, and even safe computing habits, your network accessible Windows 7 computer will be subject to hacking attempts. You can also expect support for general applications that receive frequent updates to stop releasing updates to Windows 7 computers soon. Firefox ended support for Windows XP a while after it went into End Of Support, meaning that avoiding an insecure Internet Explorer became difficult as well.

Medical/Financial Markets: Without proper updates, your systems will start to impact compliance with various regulations from HIPAA, PCI DSS, and more. Considering the cost of fines associated with non-compliance or privacy loss incidents, upgrading your systems is the only sensible course of action (with the exception of specific equipment running Windows 7 Embedded, with valid support contacts in place, and security mitigations considered).

General Business: With Microsoft no longer supporting Windows 7, software/hardware makers will be free to stop supporting it as well. Want to run Quickbooks 2021 next year? Most likely it won’t even install on Windows 7. Dependent on some other evolving application that updates itself periodically? Expect updates to stop running on Windows 7, slowly preventing essential apps and services from running on Windows 7. Even general support surrounding issues unrelated to Windows will become difficult, as it’s far more cost effective for your software developer to say “sorry, your system isn’t supported” than to spend a half hour or more fixing your issue.

So what can you do? There are multiple options you can pursue, ranging from upgrading your existing computer, to purchasing a new computer, to switching platforms to something like ChromeOS. Check in to my next post on determining the right course of action for you.