Page 1 of 1

When do I have to upgrade from Win7 to Win10?

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2019 5:17 pm
by jztemple2
So, for how long can my wife and I keep using our Win7 machines before we have to upgrade to Win10? I thought it would be sometime in 2020 but I saw an article (which I failed to retain) that said something about how SSL certificates (OK, something that looked like that) would be going from class 1/2 to only class 2 this summer and so would no longer be supported by Win7.

Before you say it, yes, there are a lot of nice things about Win10 and it is now standard for a lot of stuff, etc, but it took forever for my wife to agree to let me upgrade her from WinXP to Win7, so I anticipate a similar struggle, which I would like to postpone for as long as possible.

So, at what point will our Win7 machines no longer be able to use the internet, which I assume is what will drive us to upgrade?

Re: When do I have to upgrade from Win7 to Win10?

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2019 6:36 pm
by JCC
The quick answer is you need to upgrade this year.

The detailed answer is security updates for Win 7 end Jan 14, 2020. After that the risk of being online begins.

Re: When do I have to upgrade from Win7 to Win10?

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2019 6:36 pm
by Anonymous Bosch
Extended support for Windows 7 ends on January 14, 2020, which means that you basically have just under a year until Microsoft ceases issuing security patches for Windows 7. You'll still be able to continue using it -- just as you can technically still use Windows XP right now -- but Windows 7 systems will become significantly more vulnerable to security threats going forward (especially since any patched vulnerabilities in Windows 10 will then provide ne'er-do-wells with a convenient road-map for exploiting the unpatched Windows 7).

Fortunately, you should still be able to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 for free. It's also fairly easy to make Windows 10 look and behave like Windows 7. So the transition shouldn't be all that difficult for your trouble n' strife.

If you value your privacy, I would also suggest using O&O ShutUp10 and W10Privacy, which are free privacy tools that help prevent Windows 10 from spying upon and tracking you. While you can manually edit many of those settings from the Windows 10 control panel, keep in mind that Microsoft has a frustrating tendency of automatically resetting all of their privacy-violating shenanigans after installing a Windows update. Using privacy tools like O&O ShutUp10 and W10Privacy means you can save your privacy settings, and easily re-enable them after installing a Windows update.

Re: When do I have to upgrade from Win7 to Win10?

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2019 8:18 pm
by Kraken
Anonymous Bosch wrote: Wed Feb 20, 2019 6:36 pm It's also fairly easy to make Windows 10 look and behave like Windows 7. So the transition shouldn't be all that difficult for your trouble n' strife.
First thing I do on a new machine is install Classic Shell.

Re: When do I have to upgrade from Win7 to Win10?

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2019 10:09 pm
by JCC
I used Classic Shell with Windows 8, but I find I don't really need it for Win 10. I just shrink the start menu horizontally until it basically is like the pre-Win8 start menu. I find this pretty nice. Alternatively, you can leave the start menu wide and get rid of the default live tiles and put frequently used apps, folders, etc. there and size them to whatever. It's pretty flexible. Or you may like the live tiles (shrugs).

Re: When do I have to upgrade from Win7 to Win10?

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2019 5:08 am
by Victoria Raverna
jztemple2 wrote: Wed Feb 20, 2019 5:17 pm So, for how long can my wife and I keep using our Win7 machines before we have to upgrade to Win10? I thought it would be sometime in 2020 but I saw an article (which I failed to retain) that said something about how SSL certificates (OK, something that looked like that) would be going from class 1/2 to only class 2 this summer and so would no longer be supported by Win7.

Before you say it, yes, there are a lot of nice things about Win10 and it is now standard for a lot of stuff, etc, but it took forever for my wife to agree to let me upgrade her from WinXP to Win7, so I anticipate a similar struggle, which I would like to postpone for as long as possible.

So, at what point will our Win7 machines no longer be able to use the internet, which I assume is what will drive us to upgrade?
You just need the SHA-2 patch to continue to receive Windows 7 update until January 14, 2020. If you don't have that patch, you'll not get new update starting from July this year.

SHA-2 patch is probably going to come in the regular Windows 7 update next month but if you for some reason don't have that install by end of June, you won't get any update after that.

I'm sure Microsoft will provide SHA-2 patch available for download even after June 2019 but you'll need to download and install it manually.

After January 14 2020, Microsoft stop supporting Windows 7. That doesn't mean your Windows 7 PC will stop working or can't access internet. You won't get any new security update from Microsoft and probably won't be able to download older security updates from Microsoft after that date.

Kinda like you can continue to use old iPhone after Apple stop supporting them but you won't get any new update to fix any bug or security flaw.

Re: When do I have to upgrade from Win7 to Win10?

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2019 3:51 pm
by hitbyambulance
i've personally decided to no longer use any OS that no longer receives security updates - this includes semi-aged Android phones. i have an iPhone 5s that is on the tail end of support from Apple, but it *is still supported, so i can keep using it for the time being.

Re: When do I have to upgrade from Win7 to Win10?

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2019 4:13 pm
by jztemple2
Thanks for all the replies. Actually when I discussed your posts with She Who Must Be Obeyed :wink: she was fine with upgrading to Win10 this summer since she's been having to work with Win10 on her tax machines and she thinks she will be comfortable with it :roll: