It is now January 2020 which means Windows 7 has officially reached it’s End-of-Life.
Though this might not come as shocking to some, here is a recap of information for those who missed the news:
January 14th 2020 is the date for the end of extended support for Microsoft Windows 7. Effectively this means that there will be no further releases of security updates for this operating system.
What does this mean for businesses who still plan to run on Windows 7?
Security is a big issue if you plan on using Windows 7. It is predicted the vulnerabilities of windows 7 will increase, which increases your risks of security. This includes a higher risk of cyber-attacks.
Additionally, companies who decide to remain with Windows 7 will need to pay for extended support, which was offered for free previously. This extended support option will retire in January 2021.
What is the solution to the end of Windows 7?
For organizations still using Windows 7 there are three choices for going forward:
- Stay with Windows 7 and take the risk of a security breach. However most organizations will fear infection by malware, loss of IT services and associated ransomware demands.
- Stay with Windows 7 and try to obtain extended security support however this will cost extra and is likely to be only made available to larger organizations.
- Update technology to Windows 10. This may sound a sensible approach but for many organizations the transfer can be a challenging project.
When upgrading to Windows it is not only a matter of updating the operating system. Some devices currently running Windows 7 will be old and not of a correct specification to run Windows 10. In which case they will need to be replaced. Even if the device can be upgraded there may be application incompatibilities which means they will not work correctly with Windows 10. These tasks are challenging enough however for many organizations they will have the added problem of incomplete inventories, poor software licensing records and the inability to test and package large amounts of software applications for re-installation.
How TBSC helps:
TBSC provides a Windows 7 to Windows 10 transition service called Smater Windows Migration. This service includes a 7-step process to ensure a smooth and easy migration. Our approach includes: machine discovery, accurate inventory, application recognition, application rationalization, application OS collision detection, application collision remediation, and application integration detection.
For more information on our Smarter Windows Migration, please click here: https://tbsc.cloud/smarter-windows-migration/