Windows 7 is EOL is near, what will you do?

[metalbunny]

Presently I'm set to do as little as possible. W7 won't be any less secure just because support ends - we just won't get anymore 10% fixes. As long as you act with due caution and otherwise keep your network secure the risk remains just as minimal as it's always been.

EDIT: Oh, and regarding the meltdown issue/patch: PLEASE read up on what the exploit is and what it takes to utilize it. For the vast majority of people there is no risk whatsoever.

My desktop just had its 6 year birthday, which would be an issue as a gamer if I cared at all about the latest unoptimized trash that comes out, but it still has plenty of power for the games I play, even brand new ones. I used to upgrade every few years. These days I don't have the money to care until I'm seriously short on power. Which means I don't immediately fear about the hardware supporting W7.

I grew up with DOS and OS/2 and was forced to learn to deal with Windows 3 in school. I hated every single version of Windows because they were all terrible compared to OS/2. There are lot of reasons why OS/2 didn't gain much ground, but most of them involve M$ and not a single one has to do with how the system performed. That said, when the industry decided to get in bed with MS instead of IBM, that's when I was forced to go with Windows. It was 98 back then and it did alright, but games were still mostly in DOS, so it didn't matter. XP was okay, Vista was not, 7 is great, 8 is not, and 10 is just a mislabelled 8.3.

7 is actually so good I've been holding off getting my Linux back on its feet. I basically need to start over because it's been so long since I used it, but I got sick of switching back and forth every time I wanted to play a game, and for a long time i spent more time with games than anything else.

 

[jamaclaypod]

I agree...everybody I talk to wants 7. My father in law worked for IBM. He wrote many of their manuals. He was an ace in his day, but alas, 10 left him frustrated, looking for a copy of 7. I wonder why someone doesn't build an alternative platform which anybody could work because it's so simple, and make it freeware/open source. Money for the effort could be crowd sourced. Coders and engineers would be out of work, I guess...there are always going to be people who want to be in control of literally everything.

In order to work without problems, I keep my Windows 7 computer offline. If the Acer I use online quit, I could connect with the other one, but M$ would demand that I install the latest 132 Updates, including the rollup, ha ha! By the way, I was able to resolve the issue with my USB ports not being recognized. I keep my books and articles on thumb drives, but the writing computer didn't recognize them. I went into the BIOS and disabled a floppy drive that never existed, connected it long enough to download updated USB drivers, and voila! Working USB ports. I backed up everything to a USB external hard drive first, just in case.

The only problem I see in continuing to use 7 is the validation after a reinstall. Even if you enter the product key from the packaging, Windows won't let you do anything until you validate, which of course you can't with an offline computer. Annoying popups keep saying "You may be a victim of software piracy", even tho you know you are NOT, and your copy is genuine. Of course there is an Activate By Phone option, but I just refuse to waste my minutes on such nonsense. There's a way around that, so I will keep replacing HDD s when they tank and reloading windows 7, hoping that some day, some genius who isn't greedy will create something as good and offer it open source to humanity, and cut the crap about piracy of ancient software. Haven't they made enough money off of it by now?

 

[poorguy]

I've been using Linux since Windows XP EOL and when Windows 7 reaches EOL I will be 100% Linux for online use.

I'll keep my Windows computers offline and use them for what they were built for Microsoft Flight Simulator X and X Plane.

My only real complaint with Linux is Linux don't have a good of Flight Simulator as Microsoft Flight Simulator X or X Plane.

 

[mrjimphelps]

I wonder why someone doesn't build an alternative platform which anybody could work because it's so simple, and make it freeware/open source.

They have -- Linux. There are various distros of Linux which are being constantly improved -- many are ready to use and easy to learn.

I use Linux Mint on my modern computer, and Elementary OS (Linux) on my old computer. Both work well.

I have Windows 8.1 installed in a virtual machine session in my Linux Mint computer, for those occasions when I simply can't do something in Linux. (There are a few things like that, but not too many.) I chose Windows 8.1, because it will be supported by Microsoft till January 2023. I have installed Classic Shell in my Windows 8.1 vm to make it look and feel exactly like Windows 7.

 

[poorguy]

I agree the best and only alternative Linux.

 

[Brds7t7]

It'll be a sad day when Windows 7 reaches EOL. I'll continue to use Windows 8.1 until 2023, but I'll miss 7.
Unfortunately, I like many others have lost faith in MS. I wouldn't be at all shocked if MS tried to drop support for 8.1 before 2023 - I hope that doesn't happen, but they don't have a great track record with some of their products lately!

I find 8.1 to be a decent OS once it's been tweaked, had Classic Shell installed and all the Metro UI nonsense stripped away. Some users like the Metro UI, but it doesn't do anything for me, I just find it all distracting. I remove all the apps as I never even use them, and I don't even open the Start screen.

It takes more tweaking than 7 to get it how I want it, but I actually find it runs all my software pretty well. I have zero interest in Windows 10 though, so no idea what I'll do after 2023 yet.

 

[Marie SWE]

Hello
It's going to be a sad day after the last security update in 2020 and then try to guess when it becomes a risk. (I think it's possible to see a little bit on what kind of security updates ar released to Win8 after 2020 and then try to make a qualified guess on how it affects Win7)

So I will keep Win7 on my computers, but I will use them very restrictive online. I have recently(last six-seven weeks) started learning Linux and I hope I've learned it so much by 2020 that I can rely on Linux at 100%. All my online computers will have dual boot Win7/Linux by 2020.
//Marie

 

[poorguy]

Hello
I have recently(last six-seven weeks) started learning Linux and I hope I've learned it so much by 2020 that I can rely on Linux at 100%. All my online computers will have dual boot Win7/Linux by 2020.
//Marie

Hello Marie SWE,

The more you use Linux the more you will learn and also belonging to a Linux forum can help a lot.

This link has been a good learning tool for myself and many others.

Home | Linux Journey

Apologies for the slight drift off topic.

 

[Marie SWE]

Hello Marie SWE,

The more you use Linux the more you will learn and also belonging to a Linux forum can help a lot.

This link has been a good learning tool for myself and many others.

Home | Linux Journey

Apologies for the slight drift off topic.

Hello
Yes i know, but I don't only want to "use" Linux, in fact I use Linux right in this moment.
The biggest problem may be that I want to know it as well as i do windows.. what is the proper US word... Power-user or is it to be a geek. *hahaha*
Yes I have registered on: forums.linuxmint.com and the Swedish forum linuxmint.se/forum (the same username as here, if someone want to say Hi)

I thank you for the link. I'll check it out tomorrow ... Now is sleeping time here... 5.20am, I guess it probably best to get some sleep.
//Marie

 

[Brds7t7]

Now is sleeping time here... 5.20am

Are you nocturnal?

 

[jamaclaypod]

Hey, thanks for the link, poorguy. I realize I need to learn Linux. I have to deal with publishing formats and so much crap, I just never investigated Linux. I have no one but myself to blame if I don't have something in place for EOL of M$ junk systems. I'll check it out right after I finish this chocolate chip cookie...

 

[Marie SWE]

Are you nocturnal?

Considering when I get up and when I go to bed(since my youth), I must have lived in eastern US in my previous life. *hahaha*

 

[Brds7t7]

Considering when I get up and when I go to bed(since my youth), I must have lived in eastern US in my previous life. *hahaha*

I'm not much of a heavy sleeper either, never have been. But I was just waking up around that time! :roflmao:

 

[Marie SWE]

I'm not much of a heavy sleeper either, never have been. But I was just waking up around that time! :roflmao:

okay. I just have to have my 8-hour sleep, otherwise I become a wreck. And that it is on the wrong time here in Sweden, that's a whole different story. The secret is I was use to work at night the last 15years.

 

[Botard]

Considering when I get up and when I go to bed(since my youth), I must have lived in eastern US in my previous life. *hahaha*

How old are you Marie, if you don't mind?
You look young the way you talk, and a funny person too.
you also have an aura shines the SevenForums that makes you hot.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

okay. I just have to have my 8-hour sleep, otherwise I become a wreck. And that it is on the wrong time here in Sweden, that's a whole different story. The secret is I was use to work at night the last 15years.

I hear you. I worked third shift for 5 1/2 years up to eight years ago, when I retired for keeps, and I still frequently have trouble sleeping at night but can sleep like a baby during the day. I "affectionately" call it shift lag (named after jet lag). It's so much fun to deal with (lied Jeannie through her teeth).

 

[dsperber]

I don't expect to ever use Windows 10. It's been four years since I got the Acer with 8.1 and I have had literally no issues. I don't like the "Tiles" so I go classic.

Just in passing, it may someday become mandatory to go with Win10 if you ever find yourself buying a new machine. I, too, continue to use Win7 Pro as my OS on five machines (three desktops and two laptops), including two Skylake machines with 6th generations CPUs, because I prefer the "classic" desktop feel. And I will probably continue to operate this way as long as possible.

But for friends and family for whom I've been asked over the past few years to provide upgrades and/or replacements for their old equipment, I've found myself being "forced" to go with Win8.1 and now Win10 machines, simply because the purchase budget required going with a vendor or model which didn't offer a Win7 option. And it was thus several years ago that I first discovered the fabulous Start8 product from Stardock for Win8/8.1, and more recently the equivalent Start10 product for Win10.

Can't recommend this product highly enough, for those of us who simply don't want to use "tiles" or any new MS Start Menu user interface, but simply want to stick with the good old fashioned Win7 "classic" Start Menu. If that's what you want, then Start8 and Start10 are for you. You will not even realize you're using something other than Win7, although its customization options also provide for any degree of "compromise" you want so that you can also have full Win10 desktop GUI capabilities as well, if that's what you want.

Costs $5, which is of course WELL WORTH IT to be able to be right at home with a true Win7 "classic" desktop and Win7 Start Menu functionality operating on a modern hardware Win10-enabled machine.

Start10 from Stardock, if you love Win7 and don't want to lose its Start Menu but are forced to go to a Win10 machine. Try it. You'll feel right at home again. I use it myself on one of my laptops where I installed Win10 as a second bootable OS, so that I could learn all about Win10 for myself.

 

[Brds7t7]

The secret is I was use to work at night the last 15years.

15 years That's impressive! I did do a job working nights once - I only lasted a year! :roflmao: Just couldn't get my body adjusted to it, and missed my nightlife, so went back to a day job.

 

[Marie SWE]

How old are you Marie, if you don't mind?
You look young the way you talk, and a funny person too.
you also have an aura shines the SevenForums that makes you hot.

I thank you for the compliment.

Never as a girl about her age. *hahaha*
My answer is... I'm forever 25.
And I quote Alphaville: Forever young, I want to be forever young.......
But just to be nice, I have celebrated my 25th birthday 17times.

 

[Marie SWE]

I hear you. I worked third shift for 5 1/2 years up to eight years ago, when I retired for keeps, and I still frequently have trouble sleeping at night but can sleep like a baby during the day. I "affectionately" call it shift lag (named after jet lag). It's so much fun to deal with (lied Jeannie through her teeth).

And it is a little tough to have wrong day rhythm when the sun's wonderful hours disappears with sleep

That was a very good name for it...shift lag.. I just have to remember that one.

But I have one little advantage with my bad sleep, That is that I can talk with you all on the other side of the Atlantic without having to wait until the following day for answers.
As I always saying to family and friends.. Always look on the positive in negative things, that's what gives you strength and a good mood.