The end of Windows 7 - It seems like only yesterday that users of computers running Windows XP had to upgrade their operating system. And possibly their computers. As Microsoft was ending support for Windows XP. That scenario will soon come to pass again. When users of Windows 7 will be faced with Microsoft ending support in January 2020.
If you have Windows 7 Enterprise or Windows 7 Pro Microsoft will provide patches/updates until 2023. But if you are using Windows 7 Home edition then you are out of luck. As Microsoft won’t be providing any patches/updates and you will have to migrate to Windows 10. Microsoft has yet to announce the cost of the updates. And if you have to pay to update a lot of computers then it won’t be cheap.
What my Managed Service Provider Should Do
So what do you do if you have custom software and or hardware that only works with Windows 7?
You will have to replace your hardware and software as you prepare to move to Windows 10. But if you have Windows 7 Enterprise or Windows 7 Pro. You will have a bit longer to prepare for the move. The extra years you have to prepare for your move to Windows 10 will come in very handy. Especially if you have to replace your custom software.
What happens if you dont migrate to Windows 10
Well, you can pay Microsoft for 3 years of patches/updates. If you can afford to and if your version of Windows 7 allows this. If you can’t do this because of the costs involved. Or because your Windows 7 is the Home edition version. You will be in breach of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation )which came into law on May 25th2018. Requiring you to be using up to date computers that are fully patched.
It’s not all bad news as there is something positive to come out of this. Once you migrate to Windows 10. All updates will be done via the cloud. As Windows 10 will never be replaced by Microsoft.
More information on Windows
If you are looking for more information from Microsoft on Windows 7 End Of Life then here is a great place to start!
If you want to buy a copy of Windows 10 you can contact iPing and we can help or you can go direct to Microsoft here. We advise on the first option as we can help with the upgrade and migration!
iPing provide managed services and IT services. We can help provide you with an overview of how you can go about upgrading your computers or I.T. infrastructure to Windows 10. So, if you need some help with the above please contact us or give us a call on 01 5241350.