I want to use win7 "forever" and never upgrade to win10

[unaulindvii]

As for me, I bought a new Kaby Lake (Intel 7th Gen) laptop instead of a Coffee Lake (Intel 8th Gen) due to graphics driver issues.


No plans to upgrade to Windows 10, and if this baby dies I plan to get another, used one with Haswell or Skylake or Kaby Lake

 

[file3456]

I suspect that will depend on how successful W10 is.

If W10 has 60% of the market in 2020, I suspect that most malware will be targeting it.

I didn't hear of a massive outbreak of XP malware after it went EOL, despite claims that "XP Armageddon" would occur within days of that event.

I did notice recently that MS has claimed that "W7 Armageddon" is about to happen to everyone who hasn't upgraded to W10 already.

Windows 7 is Unsafe according to Microsoft's Marketing Chief
Microsoft Warns Windows 7 Has Serious Problems

The only problems with W7 are the ones that MS is deliberately causing.

Yeah, it's a fallacy about how you have to have the so-called latest and "greatest" OS to prevent malware and "hacking." LMAO! What a joke. I think they spread this rumor out to the masses to get everyone to update. Truth be told, you can update and update to your little heart's content and you're still gonna get malware or a possible hacker on your machine. After all, this isn't Linux, it's the most targeted OS in the world. And Linux copy cat Admin crap and UAC won't prevent any of it, but just create issues. Malware WILL get by especially if it's polymorphic. It just boils down to doing what everyone should be doing from the get go: don't browse the net like a moron. At least scan all downloads at Virus Total and of course for the love of God don't trust TPB crap. And if you have an overwhelming desire to surf for porn, then be prepared to get online STDs. The more popular sites might be safe, but not the other crap. These two points are chiefly where people pick up malware from in the first place.

Updates in of themselves are practically viruses. I have read forum post after forum post on computer forums all over the Internet of updates hosing their computers. I don't even use updates, and I've never gotten malware. Even so, I scan my computer every once in a while with a plethora of tools. Some most never even heard of or use, like Streamarmor. To make this even funnier, I have a netbook running XP that's connected to an external monitor, mouse and mini keyboard as the kitchen kiosk. It's primary use is a small FTP server who's storage is a SD card. It runs PhoneTray and a TeamSpeak server. This little beast has been on 24/7 connected to the Internet for the last four years and no malware or hacking attempts. Albeit, I have Peerblock on it that uses my own custom block lists blocking many countries and hosting providers like Azure, Amazon, Google, Digital Ocean, etc. Over 600 million IPs in total. I don't forward the ports necessary for TeamSpeak unless I use it. I keep port forwarding on a use case scenario.

I said updates are malware in of themselves? Check these articles out:

An Open Letter to Microsoft About Poor Windows 10 Update Experiences

Microsoft shows that it does not really care about user feedback - gHacks Tech News

 

[file3456]

As for me, I bought a new Kaby Lake (Intel 7th Gen) laptop instead of a Coffee Lake (Intel 8th Gen) due to graphics driver issues.


No plans to upgrade to Windows 10, and if this baby dies I plan to get another, used one with Haswell or Skylake or Kaby Lake

This is the real problem for me. I just built the computer in my system specs last May. And while it's been great and everything for what I use it for, in about ten (yes 10) years when I upgrade again I'll have to use a new CPU and that CPU will have to use Windows 10 providing there still is a Windows 10 or something else (one can only hope) in ten years. But as it stands now, Win 10 is the final OS and M$ are copying the OSX update method.

If and when I have to use 10, I plan on installing a hardware-based firewall and blocking all of M$'s ASN's. If I have to visit a M$ site I'll use my VPN. Then I'll monitor SNMP and make sure MY OS isn't leaking anything and if I find it that ASN will too get blocked. I mean for God sakes, the OS has a built in keylogger. Yeah, it can be "turned off" but that's not the point.

I'm actually hoping that with Europe's GDPR non-sense, they'll turn their attention to Win 10, and then perhaps M$ will have to make a European version of 10. It will be that version I go after. LOL One can only hope for that scenario. Europe did go after Google. Although, Google are still as evil as ever. I think they are getting too big for their britches if you ask me.

 

[unaulindvii]

This is the real problem for me. I just built the computer in my system specs last May. And while it's been great and everything for what I use it for, in about ten (yes 10) years when I upgrade again I'll have to use a new CPU and that CPU will have to use Windows 10 providing there still is a Windows 10 or something else (one can only hope) in ten years. But as it stands now, Win 10 is the final OS and M$ are copying the OSX update method.

If and when I have to use 10, I plan on installing a hardware-based firewall and blocking all of M$'s ASN's. If I have to visit a M$ site I'll use my VPN. Then I'll monitor SNMP and make sure MY OS isn't leaking anything and if I find it that ASN will too get blocked. I mean for God sakes, the OS has a built in keylogger. Yeah, it can be "turned off" but that's not the point.

I'm actually hoping that with Europe's GDPR non-sense, they'll turn their attention to Win 10, and then perhaps M$ will have to make a European version of 10. It will be that version I go after. LOL One can only hope for that scenario. Europe did go after Google. Although, Google are still as evil as ever. I think they are getting too big for their britches if you ask me.

I couldn't agree more. Well said.

 

[Magnakai]

i am most definitely going to use it forever man

 

[mrjimphelps]

There are three ways that you can continue to use Windows 7 for as long as you want to. For each of these methods, I would install the GWX Control Panel (Ultimate Outsider - Software Downloads) to give you some extra protection against an unwanted upgrade to Windows 10.

1. Keep using your Windows 7 computer after January 2020 (Windows 7 EOL). Make sure that you are as updated as possible, and make sure that you have some good antivirus software installed and continually updated. Do regular backups (once a month or more), so that you can recover, should disaster occur. The longer you go after Windows 7 EOL, the riskier it will be to connect to the internet.

2. Install something else (e.g. Linux Mint 64-bit) as your host OS, and then install Windows 7 in a virtual machine. You can do this on pretty much any modern computer with plenty of memory (8GB at minimum, the more the better), because Windows 7 will interface with the VM software, not with the computer. Therefore, you should be able to do Windows auto-updates till EOL for Windows 7.

3. Install Windows 8.1 as your host OS, and install Classic Shell (or other similar product) to make Windows 8.1 look and feel exactly like Windows 7. This will add three years to the EOL clock, meaning you will get Windows updates till January of 2023.

Here's what I have done: I installed Linux Mint 64-bit as my host system; I installed VMWare Workstation Player as my virtual machine software; I set up Windows 8.1 (with classic shell) as a vm. I can run Windows or Linux at any time, switching between the two, or I could run Windows all the time if I wanted to. I also set up a Windows 7 vm; but that will go out of support in 1.5 years, so that's why I also did 8.1.

 

[michael diemer]

I would have stopped using Windows 7 already if I didn't need it for my music creation software. And to keep up to speed with it so I can care for my wife's laptop. We have three computers: a Windows 98 machine that has never been online and is super fast as I just reinstalled it. In case we want to use the neat software it came with, like Greetings Workshop. Next, a 10 y/o Gateway on which I have Kubuntu, Linux Lite, Windows 7 and True, a BSD operating system. My music computer is Windows 7 Pro, and stays offline by default. I only go online briefly, to research something musical, or download music software. I use MSE for AV, which (I hope) is enough, given my careful habits. Finally, she has a Dell laptop with Windows 7. I will be putting Linux on it soon, to get her acclimated to it before the W7 EOL. Probably Kubuntu, as it has the KDE desktop, which is the most Windows-like one out there. With one of their glass themes, it looks just like W7. I did put Malwarebytes Pro on it to be on the safe side.

I was using the Windows 10 blocking software during that fiasco, but I don't anymore; that evil seems to have run its course. I only do security updates on the music rig, but do full ones now on the other W7 machines. I think that running W7 as a VM is an excellent idea. With only 6GB of ram in my Gateway, it isn't enough. I could do it in my music rig, but I am reluctant to mess with that machine as it is my life in many ways.

 

[file3456]

The thing about using older OSs is that your choice of browser diminishes greatly, and thus websites won't be able to get rendered. Especially with TLS that is being pushed by Google. Also, games and other programs won't be compatible.

Like I said in my first post, it's a fallacy that you can't use the Internet with an outdated OS. And I gave an example with my server/netbook running XP. OMG! I'm getting so much malware and have been hacked! Nope, nothing can be further from the truth.

You could surf the Internet with Win 98se, but I reckon many web pages that use TLS won't work. Or the browser that you have to use would be so old that modern web pages that use present day technologies like HTML5 won't even render.

VMware Workstation Player is free, and you can always run an older OS in it for older programs. Actually, I'm not even sure if Win 98se will run in it, it may. I do have a copy of 98se, I should try it one day. Always loved that space theme.

 

[townsbg]

I'm thinking of going to 8.1 or 2012 R2 when 7 is discontinued but I'm not sure how soon after. I think that I can stand either with classic shell but I will miss the look and feel of 7.

 

[swarfendor437]

I would have stopped using Windows 7 already if I didn't need it for my music creation software. And to keep up to speed with it so I can care for my wife's laptop. We have three computers: a Windows 98 machine that has never been online and is super fast as I just reinstalled it. In case we want to use the neat software it came with, like Greetings Workshop. Next, a 10 y/o Gateway on which I have Kubuntu, Linux Lite, Windows 7 and True, a BSD operating system. My music computer is Windows 7 Pro, and stays offline by default. I only go online briefly, to research something musical, or download music software. I use MSE for AV, which (I hope) is enough, given my careful habits. Finally, she has a Dell laptop with Windows 7. I will be putting Linux on it soon, to get her acclimated to it before the W7 EOL. Probably Kubuntu, as it has the KDE desktop, which is the most Windows-like one out there. With one of their glass themes, it looks just like W7. I did put Malwarebytes Pro on it to be on the safe side.

I was using the Windows 10 blocking software during that fiasco, but I don't anymore; that evil seems to have run its course. I only do security updates on the music rig, but do full ones now on the other W7 machines. I think that running W7 as a VM is an excellent idea. With only 6GB of ram in my Gateway, it isn't enough. I could do it in my music rig, but I am reluctant to mess with that machine as it is my life in many ways.

Hi, If you want a GNU/Linux distro that looks like Windows 7 you should give Zorin 12.4 Core your attention or the Lite version. I wrote the unofficial manual for it here so you can get a feel for it:

Zorin Group Forum • View topic - Unofficial Zorin 12.x Core Manual - still work-in-progress!

I also used the evil Google docs to translate into French, Greek, German and Italian. In fact Zorin has replaced Windows entirely in the local government of Vicenza in Italy.

The City of Vicenza is Choosing Zorin OS | The official Zorin Blog

For me the base point of any OS is how good its Accessible features are. Zorin's menu is read properly by Orca the Gnome screen reader; not so in Linux Mint 19 Cinnamon edition. But I do like Cinnamon DE and if you want something faster than Mint look at an excellent fork that is superfast even in live mode: FerenOS -

feren OS, made for today's and tomorrow's generation - Home

I have yet to try out if it is better than Mint's Cinnamon desktop in respect of Accessibility.

 

[BlueGuy]

What if certain things happen, like me and my Home Theatre builds and I need an ATSC 3.0 tuner and there are no drivers for anything older than W10? Or like what happened to my XP HTPCs when Firefox ESR was all that would run and now has stopped upgrading [for that I installed K-Meleon, an XP friendly browser, for TV and Movie listings] at v.52.9.0, the dialogue displaying clearly that I cannot upgrade on those machines. What will you do when that happens to W7? I'll probably go to K-Meleon as well, even though there's no easy way to transfer passwords. It sucks, I wish they would have just stopped at 7 and worked to improve the internals. I've never minded having to install my own drivers for each piece of hardware I have and don't get me started on UEFI and lockouts for anything but Windows. In that regard, I do expect SiliconDust to come out with HD Homerun network tuners that will run on the upcoming broadcast standard and they have drivers for other OSs. Plus the usual haunts out there like FileHorse/Hippo or Softpedia if all you need are the 2015 drivers without the fluff of later ones.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

What if certain things happen, like me and my Home Theatre builds and I need an ATSC 3.0 tuner and there are no drivers for anything older than W10? Or like what happened to my XP HTPCs when Firefox ESR was all that would run and now has stopped upgrading [for that I installed K-Meleon, an XP friendly browser, for TV and Movie listings] at v.52.9.0, the dialogue displaying clearly that I cannot upgrade on those machines. What will you do when that happens to W7? I'll probably go to K-Meleon as well, even though there's no easy way to transfer passwords. It sucks, I wish they would have just stopped at 7 and worked to improve the internals. I've never minded having to install my own drivers for each piece of hardware I have and don't get me started on UEFI and lockouts for anything but Windows. In that regard, I do expect SiliconDust to come out with HD Homerun network tuners that will run on the upcoming broadcast standard and they have drivers for other OSs. Plus the usual haunts out there like FileHorse/Hippo or Softpedia if all you need are the 2015 drivers without the fluff of later ones.

What upcoming broafcast standards?

 

[mrjimphelps]

What if certain things happen, like me and my Home Theatre builds and I need an ATSC 3.0 tuner and there are no drivers for anything older than W10? Or like what happened to my XP HTPCs when Firefox ESR was all that would run and now has stopped upgrading [for that I installed K-Meleon, an XP friendly browser, for TV and Movie listings] at v.52.9.0, the dialogue displaying clearly that I cannot upgrade on those machines. What will you do when that happens to W7? I'll probably go to K-Meleon as well, even though there's no easy way to transfer passwords. It sucks, I wish they would have just stopped at 7 and worked to improve the internals. I've never minded having to install my own drivers for each piece of hardware I have and don't get me started on UEFI and lockouts for anything but Windows. In that regard, I do expect SiliconDust to come out with HD Homerun network tuners that will run on the upcoming broadcast standard and they have drivers for other OSs. Plus the usual haunts out there like FileHorse/Hippo or Softpedia if all you need are the 2015 drivers without the fluff of later ones.

If you have enough memory in your computer (8GB or more), you could probably bypass this problem by running your older version of Windows in a VM. The VM will provide the functionality that is needed by Windows.

A few years ago (2013?) I installed Windows 2000 in a VM. It worked just fine.

 

[michael diemer]

Hi, If you want a GNU/Linux distro that looks like Windows 7 you should give Zorin 12.4 Core your attention or the Lite version. I wrote the unofficial manual for it here so you can get a feel for it:

Zorin Group Forum • View topic - Unofficial Zorin 12.x Core Manual - still work-in-progress!

I also used the evil Google docs to translate into French, Greek, German and Italian. In fact Zorin has replaced Windows entirely in the local government of Vicenza in Italy.

The City of Vicenza is Choosing Zorin OS | The official Zorin Blog

For me the base point of any OS is how good its Accessible features are. Zorin's menu is read properly by Orca the Gnome screen reader; not so in Linux Mint 19 Cinnamon edition. But I do like Cinnamon DE and if you want something faster than Mint look at an excellent fork that is superfast even in live mode: FerenOS -

feren OS, made for today's and tomorrow's generation - Home

I have yet to try out if it is better than Mint's Cinnamon desktop in respect of Accessibility.

Hi there Swarf. I am looking forward to the next Zorin release, slated for the Fall (?). As you may remember, I had to give up on Lite 12 as it just would not work right on this machine. But I have always loved Zorin OS in general, and will give it another go when 13 or whatever it's called comes out. I have tried many other systems, and few work on this machine. Usually it's an update that bricks it. This has happened with Manjaro, Solus, Deepin and several others. I won't use Deepin anymore as I've grown too paranoid about it being a Chinese system. With their IP thieving, it's too big a risk. Manjaro was great while it lasted. It was my first taste of KDE. But Kubuntu seems to be working perfectly, and I think my wife will like it. I have retained Linux Lite because it just keeps working. I tried LXLE and Ubuntu Mate, loved them both, but eventually they too had problems. Someday I will replace this computer, and hopefully then will be able to run what I really want, not just what works on it!

 

[mrjimphelps]

If you're willing to pay, you can now keep using Windows 7 with an additional three years of support from Microsoft:

Microsoft offers paid Windows 7 Extended Security Updates to Jan. 2023

 

[BlueGuy]

What upcoming broafcast standards?

Read all about it.

RC: HDTV Reception Forum Index
RC: ATSC 3.0 Ultra-High Definition (Page 7 of 7)

ATSC 3.0 or otherwise known as 4K TV

 

[SIW2]

jimphelps

I think that is a special service for volume license customers.

 

[bigmck]

Just come here and solve your problem. We will be here.................All of you will be here won't you???? HELLO, HELLO.........

 

[swarfendor437]

Hi there Swarf. I am looking forward to the next Zorin release, slated for the Fall (?). As you may remember, I had to give up on Lite 12 as it just would not work right on this machine. But I have always loved Zorin OS in general, and will give it another go when 13 or whatever it's called comes out. I have tried many other systems, and few work on this machine. Usually it's an update that bricks it. This has happened with Manjaro, Solus, Deepin and several others. I won't use Deepin anymore as I've grown too paranoid about it being a Chinese system. With their IP thieving, it's too big a risk. Manjaro was great while it lasted. It was my first taste of KDE. But Kubuntu seems to be working perfectly, and I think my wife will like it. I have retained Linux Lite because it just keeps working. I tried LXLE and Ubuntu Mate, loved them both, but eventually they too had problems. Someday I will replace this computer, and hopefully then will be able to run what I really want, not just what works on it!

Hi Michael,

Yes it is due this Fall and will be based on 18.04 with a significant improvement as with the roll up from 12.3 to 12.4 I can already see flatpak pieces coming through and the fall release should also support snapd. Artyom has responded to my suggestion that the next release will have a welcome screen similar to FerenOS. What people have to remember with hardware is that it is designed to run Windows and nothing else. If you want dedicated hardware for GNU/Linux, in the US its Zareason and ThinkPenguin.com - over here it's Entroware that ships with Ubuntu pre-installed.
Just to add that with the release of 12.4, it comes with the Spectre fix built in (as does Feren OS based on Linux Mint 19 'Tara' - waiting for the xfce version of FerenOs to be released to try)

regards,
swarf'

[UPDATED 07.09.2018 - Michael, if you ever are considering new Notebook, DON'T get one that has a hyprid Intel/nVidia graphics chipset. Your better half may prefer to use this in the meantime:

https://zoringroup.com/forum/download/file.php?id=5899&mode=view]

 

[unaulindvii]

I do worry about newer applications, e.g. in the future (esp after 2020) not working with Windows 7/8/8.1 because of video problems... e.g. hardware support for newer versions of OpenGL and OpenCL. (I bought the laptop I'm currently typing on now because my older laptop from 2011 has coompatibility issues with these OpenGL requiring software)


Judging by the lack of any driver availability for newer graphics hardware, I wonder if 3D rendering software and games in the future will work with these older OSes.
I think the next generation of NVIDIA Graphics cards after the currently hyped RTX 20 series will definitely not be compatible with Windows 7/8/8.1, and I also doubt any AMD cards in the future newer than the new RX Vega will support these older OSes.
And also if a standard for web browsers newer and better than HTML5 will come and newer versions of browsers will not support Windows 7/8/8.1
When that day comes, I hope to switch to Linux and become a full-fledged Linux user. Or I will have to use a VM just for the browser...