Sigh, the end draws nigh for that most common of desktop operating systems, Windows 7, has moved into Extended Support. This follows the move at Halloween from an active product to one no longer available but is not the final straw for the OS which is currently scheduled for 2020. The Inquirer quotes a source which places the current market share of Win7 at just over 56% globally, far above the currently selling Win8.1 but this number will slowly begin to fall, likely at a quicker pace than did WinXP's share. When a Windows product reaches Extended Support it still receives security patches and serious bug fixes, albeit at a slower pace than when it is current so don't worry that your Win7 boxen will be dying any time soon but it does make it even more worthwhile to familiarize yourself with Windows 10 as new machines will be running that OS very soon. Drop by The Inquirer for other upcoming dates, such as the final nail in Vista's coffin.
"WINDOWS 7 has reached an important milestone that begins its long, slow descent into obscurity and eventually end of life, where it will doubtless continue to command more market share than its successor."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- The 4 Best New Linux Distributions to Watch in 2015 @ Linux.com
- How To Hijack Your Own Windows System With Bundled Downloads @ Slashdot
- IBM: Hey, Intel and pals. Look on our massive patent pile and despair @ The Register
- Quantum dot materials still an issue, say observers @ DigiTimes
- Making better Li-ion battery membranes @ Nanotechweb
will always be one of the
will always be one of the best OSes.
Well, windows 7 will be
Well, windows 7 will be missed, still my os on most systems, BUT ON THE OTHER HAND if windows 10 is as good as everyone says it is, this might actually feel like an upgrade! Any word on planned upgrade options or is it too early for that?
yea windows 10 might be the
yea windows 10 might be the one I leave 7 for.
Other than SP1, is there an
Other than SP1, is there an easy way to download all the subsequent updates so I can apply them across multiple computers? Something like the combo updates you get for the Mac.
I used to use WindowsUpdateDownloader. It was a little unreliable when downloading the updates. It also seemed to apply them blindly as if it wasn’t checking to see if the updates were installed.
Or should I give the WindowsUpdateDownloader another try?
You might be looking at
You might be looking at making a slipstreamed copy of Win7, Lifehacker might not be the best source but they do cover it.
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-slipstream-windows-updates-into-your-installatio-1562956432
Other than that you are looking at setting up a domain and pushing updates.
Jeremy, you should clarify
Jeremy, you should clarify that Windows 7 will receive security updates until 2020. This is not the end of Windows 7; just the end of free support. Too many sites have been sensationalistic with this news.
EDIT: My bad. You did.
Linky covers Win 8.1
Linky covers Win 8.1
Windows Server Update
Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), if you are running windows server. I thought WUD only downloads the updates, but did not install them, you use nLite, or other tools to install the updates.
Hi Jeremy.
This is for my
Hi Jeremy.
This is for my small home network with four computers. I don’t have a domain set up.
Thanks for the link, I’ll check it out.
I may also give nlite a go: https://www.ntlite.com/
Its been updated since the last time I looked at it.
Win 7 will be like XP, M$
Win 7 will be like XP, M$ will be forced to offer an extended support contract, there are just now some enterprises, and government agencies getting around from having updated from XP to 7, hospitals also. It’s the mission critical applications that will take the longest to certify for any new OS, and the cost is too much to do everything at once, it has to be planned out over years, and costs billions.
Most will take 7 to its EOL, and then some, it’s not like most home users, that have no/very little custom mission critical software, enterprises have tons of custom applications, some just recently certified to work with windows 7, and some still to be recertified for 7 over the next 3 or 4 years. Enterprises with hundreds of thousands of PC/Laptops have to plan years for new OS/application rollouts/certifications, and budgets are tight, even tighter in periods as short as a single year, things like this take at least 5 years, if not more, and the newer converts from XP to 7, will wait an get their money’s worth. If the costs of moving from 7 to whatever are too large, then paying M$ for extended support will be the only option, for 7, as it was for XP, M$ will accommodate its enterprise customers or else risk loosing billions.
Who Knows the number of companies running XP applications in windows 7’s XP mode, while they prioritize the most mission critical of applications to be certified for 7, budgets allowing. It was hard enough going from XP to 7, the work is still under way, it will still be under way come 2020+, just you wait and see, and 8 did not earn M$ any new frenemies(Never friends in M$’s case).
“When a Windows product
“When a Windows product reaches Extended Support it still receives security patches and serious bug fixes, albeit at a slower pace than when it is current”
Wrong. Windows 7 will continue to receive security updates exactly the same way it has done for the last few years.
windows 10 looks good so far
windows 10 looks good so far – never switched to 8 or 8.1, 10 is a possibility.
convincing the enterprise to move machines they just shifted to 7 to win 10 – well that might happen at a more advanced schedule – so maybe in another 5 years.
😉
Another 5+, and M$ will allow
Another 5+, and M$ will allow for fixes, for a price, on 7 to its enterprise/government/institutional customers after 2020. Windows 10 has to get rid of that automatic cloud services attached to the OS, and make the TIFKAM/Metro/App-store runtime an optional install, not as it is in the current 10 builds, baked into the OS. I’m not happy with any of my searches for files on my computer being shunted over the internet for metrics gathering purposes, as well as logging in online to be logged into my computer, it’s local login by default, or no sale. Screw the cloud, the only part of any cloud is the searching I do through My choice of installed Internet browser, and my choice of search engine, no automatic Bing or any other, than what I choose. It’s my damn computer, give me an OS that’s under my control, without the OS maker’s bloatware/adware/closed ecosystem, if I want a closed ecosystem, I’ll get an Apple! I buy Third Party Hardware from third party OEMs, and not M$! Stay out of my business Redmond!
Isn’t 8.1 more about gui
Isn’t 8.1 more about gui differences? Is so, why not install Classic Shell and be done with it?