When Windows 7 arrived fourteen years ago, it was considered better than its predecessor, but it still had its drawbacks. Vendors weren't ready for it, essential drivers were missing, and few end users and IT administrators liked User Account Control (first introduced in Windows Vista).
However, as its lifespan comes to an end this month after ten years of support and 3 more years of extended security updates, many users and administrators are not ready to move on. (Many say Windows 7 was their most beloved operating system and say Microsoft will never create another platform like it.)
If "old code" was more secure, we should now address certain security issues in Windows 7 and Windows 7. But last week's Patch Tuesday release addressed forty-two vulnerabilities for Windows XNUMX, including twenty-five elevation of privilege vulnerabilities.
While I accept that Windows 7 and 7 sometimes make me a bit unhinged, one thing I miss about Windows XNUMX is its patching and installation issues. I find it much easier to do a repair install on Windows XNUMX, or even a clean install of Windows XNUMX or XNUMX, than on Windows XNUMX.
I'm often asked at Askwoody.com to document how to get Windows 7 since SP1 fully patched, which means dealing with hundreds of updates. Because I've been through this process for so many years, I shudder to think about having to go through it again. Remember that Windows 7 and 1 are the last operating systems to offer security-only non-cumulative updates (as a monthly security and non-security bundle). Since then, Microsoft has hardened and altered the Windows Update stack to no longer support SHA7, making Windows XNUMX installation an expensive process.
That said, there are still options for Windows 7 users, including 0patch to monitor and investigate security issues in the future. 0patch plans to continue providing specific updates to Windows 7. But don't overlook the fact that Windows 7 is going to get more and more difficult to maintain and use, while you make sure you have a backup software vendor that accepts it. .
Once again, I urge users (you know who you are) to upgrade to a system that is compatible with a modern internet browser that can better protect them. Attackers often use cloud sites and applications to access your data. So think carefully about how you access the Internet. An Android tablet, or even an iPhone, has a better protected browsing environment than an old, unpatched Windows operating system.
If you still plan to use Windows 7 after its end of life, I have a task: what do you do to secure and isolate your machine now? For Windows XP, I often set a null proxy in IE so that it couldn't connect after leaving the media:
Open IE (IE) and click Tools. Choose Internet Options and click on the Connections tab. Click on LAN Settings. Check "Use a proxy for your local network", then enter a fake IP address so that your system cannot surf the Internet. Click on Admit a few times, close IE and reopen it. Now do the same for other browsers on Windows 7.
Conclusion: change can be quite difficult. But all too often we forget what we have had to deal with on our technological journey. You can't just patch and fix an operating system to make it more secure. Nearly fourteen years after its release, Windows 7 still lacks patch support. And in the month of February, it will take even longer.
Windows 7 lasted a long time; don't put yourself at risk for it.
Finally, I'd like to hear from you directly: what exactly did you like about Windows 7? What didn't you like? I have prepared an open survey that you can answer here.
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