Sometimes in the security business it feels like you are always the bearer of bad news.
Now that you have almost eliminated Windows XP from your network and settled on Windows 7 (I am not even going to entertain the idea someone is on Vista or loves having “tiles” on their 30″ HiDPI display) it is time to let you down slowly.
Windows 7 has reached the end of mainstream support. Yes, we are already 5 years into the official launch of Windows 7.
Microsoft commits to 10 years of security fixes and 5 years of feature enhancements and bug fixes for each major OS release.
Seems like only yesterday that I wrote about malware still being viable on Windows 7, drawing the ire of Redmond executives.
Let’s be clear. Windows 7 still has five years, but if you are just finishing your last migration, then you don’t have all that much time to start planning the next one.
If we compare Windows to some other options, 10 years is a long time.
For example, OS X is supported for mystery years, iOS for mystery years (3?) and Android seems to leave it up to you, but don’t expect Google to commit to securing it.
Linux users can hardly fare better. Ubuntu LTS is around 5 years of support, with Red Hat Enterprise taking the lead at 13 years (with extended support).
If I close my eyes I think I can hear millions of IT administrators around the world hoping Windows 10 is successful.
We hope users will embrace Windows 10 so we can begin migrating early in the cycle rather than waiting until the last possible moment (XP anyone?).
Don’t forget though, Windows 7 officially launched in 2009 and yet in mid-2014 we still had XP all over our networks like a bad rash. Seems unlikely we have learned our lesson.
In the hopes we don’t commit our XP sins again, this is a reminder. Upgrade early, upgrade often. If you don’t like the hamster wheel, consider your alternatives.
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Since Windows 7 is now half way through its life, I agree it time to begin thinking about what will come next.
I also hope that Windows 10 is a success otherwise it seems likely that what happened with Windows XP will happen again. We will know more about Windows 10 when the next stage of its preview is demonstrated on the 21st of January. If Windows 10 is not for you, Apple and Linux offer excellent alternatives.
Thanks.
I was warned time and time again, by an IT that I would not be able to learn how to use a Apple operating system, nor was Windows 8 anything worth investing in . I have limited means and am disabled. I started trying to learn how to use a PC or be working in a computer environment years ago. I had a number of Government incentive course , using the PC , and one used a dot matrix version of Apple, I was given experience on The old DOS system with likely windows as well. I may have spent many more times learning how to use different PC systems in intranet systems, where I did not have to deal with tech. support , because I am a user. And was only trained as a user. Now I have to equal the cost of what machinery I own, and the time the tech spends with me using it. Continuity and patience with me are very important , as I am learning disabled and am a slow learned , due to rote memory issues. But given time I learn.
waiting for Windows 10. I *did* upgrade to Windows 8 when that came out, but it’s so counter-intuitive, so.. idiotic.. that I went back to 7, and I’m sticking with 7 until Microsoft can offer me a decent alternative.
(Windows 7 is like going into work and seeing a nice clean desk, you sit down and get to work. Windows 8 is like going into work and someone has piled lots of crap on your desk and you have to wade through it just to find your phone. Make life easier? It does the opposite.)
Been testing Windows 10, and so far it’s better, but I’m going to wait a few months after release before updating, just to make sure it isn’t Windows 8 all over again.
(yeah I know Mac blah blah. If I buy a Mac I have to go out and buy all my software all over again too. By the time I have a Mac setup with my apps I could have bought 3 Windows machines for the same price. Nope. Windows 7 works, is solid, and has every app I need)
As for “resistant to change” I’ve been using a PC since DOS. Amiga, BBC, Vic20 before that. I relish change. But only if it makes things easier and better. Win 8 doesn’t.
I moved everything to Linux years ago – except, sadly, those few necessities whose providers refuse to support Linux. So, there is still a W7 box running and will be dealt with as needed if things have not improved.
Do not forget that Linux is for FREE!
Surely you mean that Linux is free. It’s for many uses but it costs nothing to buy.
Supporting Linux, on the other hand, is NOT FREE.
Maybe its time to revisit streaming Thin Clients? Wonder if there’s a linux based thin clients for power users? 🙂
For backend we almost completed moving to Linux and BSD. Desktop is more resistant due to some apps not supported on Linux or not having good alternative.
vista sp2 is as stable as 7 and their I.E 9 gets the same critical updates that 11 gets, they are good for like two more years
I have a horrible feeling that Vista users will end up in the same position that many Windows 2000 users found themselves in after XP had been out for a while – technically, similar to the OS that followed them, but over time becoming unsupported by software developers who choose to target features of the newer OS. I should know, I was in the unfortunate position of being lumbered with a Windows 2000 machine at my former workplace – the last few years, it was a PITA finding compatible software to run on it, especially utilities.
Windows 10 is its current state is a better replacement to Win 7 than Win 8.
I can see the older people being able to accept Win 10’s change over Win 8. I think what killed it for most everyone was getting used the the start screen ui.
The elders hate change when it comes to computers. I don’t mean the tech savvy ones, in case any one is offended.
With Microsoft’s lousy reputation for dumping what are nothing more than beta test versions on the market so we can work out all the bugs for them, I never move to a new version until at least service pack 1 has been released. It just isn’t worth the hassle.
I will wait for Windows 11 🙂
I moved to an iMac in 2012, after several bad PC experiences (thankfully, didn’t lose any data, as I’d backed up!), but I have Windows 7 installed inside a virtual machine using Parallels Desktop so that I can run some Windows software that I still use.
I did try Windows 8 briefly, but found the hassle of grappling with the Modern UI negated most of the other benefits.
I’m willing to give Windows 10 a chance, since it sounds like they’ve fixed most of the things that vexed me in Windows 8 – bit it won’t be replacing OS X as my primary environment for the foreseeable future. As to what I’ll be doing in 2020, a lot will depend on what’s on the market in terms of hardware when it comes time to replace my iMac.