Window 7 End of Life: It Matters to You!

Microsoft has announced January 14, 2020 as the date that support for Microsoft Windows 7 will end.  As of this date, Microsoft will no longer provide support or security updates for computers running Windows 7.

1

What does this mean?
In most literal terms, it means that when someone finds a problem or way to hack or exploit Windows 7, Microsoft is not going to concern themselves with fixing the problem.   They will no longer provide any support for computers running Microsoft Windows 7.   In addition, should a network have an impacting problem involving a Windows 7 machine, they will not offer technical support to resolve the issue.

2

How does this impact me?
Computers running Windows 7 in your company become a security risk.   It’s guaranteed that hackers will immediately release exploits that target Windows 7 computers, and Microsoft will not be issuing patches to resolve these security exploits.   More directly, running Windows 7 after this date will mean you are out of compliance with virtually every electronic compliance requirement such as PCI compliance for credit card acceptance, HIPAA compliance, NIST compliance, and cyber liability insurance policies will all require utilizing a supported operating system.  Failure to comply will be considered negligence by these compliance organizations.   It will be against SmartPath’s errors and omissions insurance requirements to support Windows 7 based computers.

3

What do we need to do?
A determination will have to be made as to which computers to upgrade to Windows 10 and which computers need replacing.  Many computers will be able to upgrade to Windows 10 and will not need replacement.   The determining factors if we recommend replacement or upgrade also involve unique factors relevant to your organization specifically; however; the general rule of thumb is computers over 48 months old currently have a fair market value that doesn’t make sense to upgrade versus replace.

However, recommendations will be made on a specific basis.

4

What are approximate costs of upgrade versus replacement?
The cost of an upgrade to Windows 10 Professional is approximately $190.00.   The cost of a replacement computer varies from $700-1200.00 in most cases.

5

I had heard that Microsoft offers the upgrade to Windows 10 for free…?
According to Microsoft documentation at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12435/windows-10-upgrade-faq,   the Microsoft Windows 10 free upgrade promotion ended in 2016 and is no longer eligible.

6

Where is the official Microsoft statement about Windows 7?
https://www.microsoft.com/en-US/windowsforbusiness/end-of-windows-7-support

7

What else might I need to know?
Microsoft has other products that they are retiring on the same date, including Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 as well as certain versions of Microsoft SQL server.   The recommendations we make for your specific environment will take all of these factors into consideration.