Windows 7 support has ended. What now?
On January 14th, Microsoft officially ended support for the computer operating system, Windows 7. Released to the world in 2009, Windows 7 quickly became regarded as the best version of Windows available due to its ease of use and stability.
All good things must come to an end though, so after 11 years of support, Windows 7 will no longer receive any feature updates or security fixes that it has been receiving up until now.
Will my computer stop working?
No, your computer will still turn on. It will still go on Facebook. It will go to your emails and everything you used to do. However, you are just in a higher risk of catching viruses and malware that will take advantage of the fact you are no longer receiving those updates.
Can I pay for more updates?
Some companies or large organizations (such as huge corporations, healthcare systems and government systems) may still receive updates, as they are paying Microsoft directly to keep Windows 7 going for them. You as a private individual cannot access those updates, so the realistic answer is simply, “No”.
What should I do now?
You should upgrade your operating system from Windows 7 to something more modern, such as Windows 10. Your existing computer is likely able to be converted over to Windows 10 with minimal issues, or in a few cases may need a small upgrade in its speed capabilities to run smoothly.
Windows 10 unfortunately caught a bit of a bad reputation when it first released in 2015 due to its very pushy nature in upgrading people to it. However, nowadays once you get over the inevitable new layout of things it’s really not that bad an Operating System to use and is absolutely worth having a look at if you’ve been putting it off.