Windows 7 support ends

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So are we expected to just keep guessing

I had read somewhere that the reason people used 'that well-known auction site' and 'the big South American river' was a hangover from when some fora/forums banned mention of them. Goodness knows why but people have strange ideas from time to time.
DaveD

FWIW, according to Microsoft, security updates for Win-7 are only ended through Windows-update. They will still be providing Win-7 security updates via a paid subscription. (I won't bother).

edit: Interesting thing though: today (15 Jan) I got Windows Update for improvements to the servicing stack. This is the Windows component that installs updates  ( ! )     

Edited By Bandersnatch on 15/01/2020 22:28:51

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Interesting to see that cdkeys appears to have changed tack since this review: **LINK**

https://thelegality.com/reviews/is-cdkeys-legit/

[/quote]

As their name would suggest. game cd keys are the main source of business for cdkeys.com. However, they also trade in various gift cards and top-ups. Many of cdkey.com’s competing websites like Kinguin and G2A also sell various software keys, such as Windows keys and Antivirus keys. However, cdkeys is still almost entirely focused on their specific niche – video game cd keys. They don’t sell in-game currencies, virtual skins, Windows keys, or anything of the sort. Cdkeys has its niche, and it’s sticking to it.

[/quote]

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It’s of no relevance to me ... but thanks for your clarification

MichaelG

Yes I did, and it makes perfect sense to me. The day after support ended they rolled up all the outstanding issues into a ball and shot it down the wires to us, meaning that they have dealt with all the known issues, and don't have to concern themselves with any future ones.

George

It came up on a blue screen (not of death.... of life perhaps?). when I rebooted the Win-7 machine after some updates. It warned of the impending demise of regular Win-7 security updates but a small note mentioned that ongoing support in that area could be purchased. it may have included a link but I can't be sure.

(Just tried rebooting that machine to see if the BS (blue screen) would come up again, but no luck. I must have checked the "don't show this again" box. Sorry.)

Edit: After a bit more digging, this might be what you are looking for.

Edited By Bandersnatch on 16/01/2020 01:40:31

Thanks Bandersnatch, I tried searching the Microsoft site but couldn't find anything myself.

I am not certain these are available for retail or OEM customers - only volume licencing or Cloud Solutions

If you are a club secretary, treasurer or similar you may need to update to receive security updates to be seen to be ensuring data security under GDPR - but that is an entirely seperate minefield still!

Yes, but the coverage will be limited and the price will rise as the product ages. I think your right to not bother - the extended support is mainly useful to corporates, for example a business that owns several thousand elderly Windows 7 workstations and a private data centre might prefer to stretch their investment by a few years rather than cough up the £ millions needed to upgrade a big system.

But Windy raises another point: the security of Windows 7 is one problem, and the security of Internet Explorer is another, especially anything before Version 10. Frankly, private users shouldn't still be using Internet Explorer. It has a long history of poor security, sluggish performance and functional issues, many of them unfixed. There's a reason Microsoft recommend 'Edge', and why most users have switched to Chrome, Firefox, Opera or whatever. (In 2000 about 80% of users had IE, today less than 1%.)

Two main reasons for using IE: owning a system that's to expensive to upgrade, or comfortable familiarity with an untrustworthy old friend. In both cases it's necessary to manage the risk, which becomes ever more difficult as the Operating System, Browser, Anti-virus, and other security products all go out of support. Not a problem if the machine isn't connected to the internet, hideously dangerous if you bank online, do lots of online shopping, blab on Social Media and buy porn from the Russian Mafia...

Dave

Buying porn????? - I have a hard enough job avoiding the stuff falling into my inbox as spam without going out and actually wanting to pay for it.

If it helps anyone - I downloaded Windows 10 earlier this month from the Microsoft website free of charge. At no time was I asked for a product code or license number. Downloading and installation took a couple of hours. There were a few options to select, but not many. Importantly, there was some control over how much information was sent back to Microsoft - obviously as little as possible should be selected. Although I backed up my data to USB sticks first, I did not lose any data from the machine except for saved passwords. It works just as well (or badly) as the Windows 7 it replaced.

Perhaps the 'improvement' is that it won't download updates unless you have a subscription?

I'm sure that if an existential threat to W7 computers appear there will be critical updates.

But as a happy W10 user I have no idea why so many folks fear changing.

Neil

I got that update on the 3rd January, so possibly just coincidental you got it on the 15th.

Win 10 does just about everything I want, but I've retained Win 7 as well for one program I have yet to find a better alternative for (I also still have XP for some older games, and Ubuntu just to cover all bases).

I also recently upgraded my Dell XPS8500 from Win7 to Win10. I had been good and purchased a proper Win10 licence from Microsoft. The PC never asked for a licence number and is working perfectly (using the old WIn7/Upgrade to Win10 licence.

I have been in IT since 1969 but was still dubious of doing this upgrade but it all worked ok and is still working ok. Touch Wood.

I now have a spare £80 licence. I think this will be used to upgrade my old high spec Dell Laptop from XP to Win10. Then it will migrate to the workshop.

Colin

My belief is that MS, having got enough people on to the Win-10 bandwagon and cut off support for those sticking with earlier versions, will switch to a non-optional subscription model.

Nor do I believe will it be the simple "we'll send you a bill once a year". It will be monthly and MS will demand access to your bank-account or will direct-bill your credit card. Take it or leave it. To me this epitomises stuff that I hate about today's world.

Ain't going there. At my age I don't have to. But as I've said before, everyone around here is big enough and ugly enough to make their own decisions

That said, I tried Win10 when it first came out for a few weeks. Didn't like it went back to Win8.1 on my main machine.
[ this is easy to do as I have front-panel-swapable drives on several of my machines and can prepare 2 drives with the same image and update only one. FWIW I'm about to do it again with the latest Win10 to see if I feel any better about the OS itself. I can't see me switching permanently anyway for the reasons above. ]