Among Friends

[Frosted Cake]

I have Windows 7 also and still get security patches all the time.   I  check for updates once a week and just installed a bunch of them last night.

Windows 7 will eventually be phased out, but that is not the case right now.

My computer guy tells me to keep Windows 7 because there have been a lot of issues with the Windows 10 download.

[Lovingq]

Windows lifecycle fact sheet Last updated: January 2016

Every Windows product has a lifecycle. The lifecycle begins when a product is released and ends when it's no longer supported. Knowing key dates in this lifecycle helps you make informed decisions about when to upgrade or make other changes to your software.

End of support

End of support refers to the date when Microsoft no longer provides automatic fixes, updates, or online technical assistance. This is the time to make sure you have the latest available update or service pack installed. Without Microsoft support, you will no longer receive security updates that can help protect your PC from harmful viruses, spyware, and other malicious software that can steal your personal information. For more information go to Microsoft Support Lifecycle.

The last column is the Date of Extended Support 

The column before it is the Date of Mainstream Support                                                                             

Windows XP	Service Pack 3	April 14, 2009	April 8, 2014
Windows Vista	Service Pack 2	April 10, 2012	April 11, 2017
Windows 7 *	Service Pack 1	January 13, 2015	January 14, 2020
Windows 8 **	Windows 8.1	January 9, 2018	January 10, 2023
Windows 10, released in July 2015 ***	N/A	October 13, 2020	October 14, 2025

End of support: questions and answers

What is the difference between mainstream support and extended support?

• Mainstream support—Microsoft will offer mainstream support for a minimum of 5 years from the date of a product's general availability. For example, if you buy a new version of Windows and five years later another version is released, you will still have two years of support left for the previous version.

• Extended support—Microsoft will offer extended support for a minimum of 5 years from the date of a product's general availability.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/lifecycle

[sfnative]

@gloriajean

Hi Gloria,

Last week during a radio news broadcast or reading news on my Kindle, an announcement was made to the effect that come 2017 the Windows 7.0 platform would no longer be supported.  They went on to say that everyone should load Windows 10 not later than January 2017.

This wasn't something I wanted to hear, believe me.

The job from which I retired required fast and accurate input of data and the changes made to Windows 7.0 made my day longer, because I could no longer type at 95wpm.

Both my husband and I had no desire to change out of Windows 98(!).

We will be doing much research before January.  I'll probably purchase a beginner's user book, too, plus listen to Leo LaPorte (sp?) broadcast on the weekends to get some tips.  (He's an every electronic expert.)

Good Luck!

[Nuttmeg]

---

@sfnative wrote:

@gloriajean

Hi Gloria,

Last week during a radio news broadcast or reading news on my Kindle, an announcement was made to the effect that come 2017 the Windows 7.0 platform would no longer be supported.  They went on to say that everyone should load Windows 10 not later than January 2017.

This wasn't something I wanted to hear, believe me.

The job from which I retired required fast and accurate input of data and the changes made to Windows 7.0 made my day longer, because I could no longer type at 95wpm.

Both my husband and I had no desire to change out of Windows 98(!).

We will be doing much research before January.  I'll probably purchase a beginner's user book, too, plus listen to Leo LaPorte (sp?) broadcast on the weekends to get some tips.  (He's an every electronic expert.)

Good Luck!

---

Windows 98  This must be a mistake.

[VaBelle35]

I still mourn the loss of WindowsME.

My new laptop came with Windows8 and I immediately downloaded Windows10.

While Windows10 is not ideal and there are still a lot of missing pieces to it (like you can't download the Pinterest Pin mechanism in Windows10), I am dealing with it.

That Edge browser is a waste of time and I disabled that thing 5 minutes in.