Windows 7 End of Support

[Marie SWE]

Exactly, some people need certain products that are dependent on telemetry, but I think people should get the choice in settings how much telemetry they want to go back. then if it is on the expense that the product may not be as user-friendly. But we all should have the choice, companies should not make the choice for us.

I got a smartphone the first years when android came, but I disliked the tracking so I stopped using it and went back to my dumbphone. I have a newer smartphone lying around and also a tablet. But this only to keep up with technology so I can help family and friends with their stuff.
I have also tested, dissected, manipulated and ripped win10 to pieces on my lab computer so I will be able to help others.. everything modified will be restored at the next major update of win10.... so me and win10 are still not friends. Hahaha.
win10 Enterprise seems to be the best because it requires the least modification to get rid of spyware and bloatware. But it is also the most expensive. :huh:

 

[Barman58]

Technically, Enterprise editions are only available legally to Enterprise customers with a Volume Licence Account, (although there are a number that Microsoft themselves use to fulfill various commitments, such as the MVP system etc so you may see a few legitimate copies outside the normal channels .

As a part of the Commercial sector of Microsoft's Operating System business, you would have to expect the cost for a single copy of Enterprise to be a lot more than a Copy of Pro, which is the Top end of the non commercial sector. Of course the actual cost per copy that a customer will pay for an enterprise version will vary considerable as they are based on package quantities.

This quantity would be based on the total number of enterprise desktop copies purchased in addition to the type and number of server licences and what form of support package is included. The support package is something that domestic customers get for free, of course.

Taking the support component from the overall cost, the actual cost per licence can vary considerably in business, where you could be purchasing hundreds or thousands of "seats" at the one time and can often end up costing a lot less than the individual cost to the consumer for a copy of Pro.

 

[Marie SWE]

yes i know about volume licenses. even private individuals can buy them, but it is expensive. If you are 20-50 people you can buy one together and share the cost, the first is the most expensive then I think it is 10-15 dollars per computer/device
the difference between pro and enterprise is that pro has bloatware and more telemetry/spyware. Enterprise does not have cortana, or microsoft-store etc.
and this is why i dislike win10..
it is possible to modify the pro install iso so that the installation becomes an enterprise scaled version. The problem is that everything will be sabotaged at the next big update as win10 is now more of a rolling release and what you have removed and changed will be restored. So all the work/tweek is useless

 

[Barman58]

Cortana and microsoft store are both optional items even in Pro version - if you do not want them, you can remove them

There are various options available to remove all sorts of the default options, though these days rather than mess around with scripting and hard coding I just use something like Winaero Tweaker for a freebee it does the job, and is reversible if you change your mind later

 

[Marie SWE]

I thank you for the tip about Winaero Tweaker if anyone in my acquaintance wants to modd win10
For my part, I will probably never have to get a win10 computer. I have been running linux as my main OS for almost a year now. and during that time I have only had to use windows8.1 three or four times, that I haven't solved in linux yet.
I have multiboot win7/linux/linux and win8.1/linux/linux on four of my computers in case I end up in a situation where I need windows.

but I have my retro computers with windows 3.1 up to win7 so I will keep windows even if I don't have it for everyday use.

 

[Barman58]

I started on Unix and cp/m and moved to a lot of other basic monochrome text systems until MS-DOS then Windows appeared and switched more or less at the same time as the rest of the technical sector of British industry.

I did a lot of programming and systems design on operating systems for user interface design that only a few people in the industry would even recognise or remember, I found after a while that the Systems admin side of thing meant I saw my kids more than a few times a year, and although the financial possibilities were less attractive - money is not everything.

In the end I did the locally based admin work as a main job and just occasionally went to site work when requested and it suited me - Obviously the Systems side of things was windows based with a Workstation and server base. Before long even the programing/design was running of a windows base with even graphics being drawn and then auto-coded to make the system work - Some even allowed the design to be drawn and the system itself wrote the background code in a language such as C or C#, which could then be manually fine tuned in the code

Basically with my history there is not much that worries me, especially since I went independent a few years ago ...

 

[Marie SWE]

I started on Unix and cp/m and moved to a lot of other basic monochrome text systems until MS-DOS then Windows appeared and switched more or less at the same time as the rest of the technical sector of British industry.

I did a lot of programming and systems design on operating systems for user interface design that only a few people in the industry would even recognise or remember, I found after a while that the Systems admin side of thing meant I saw my kids more than a few times a year, and although the financial possibilities were less attractive - money is not everything.

In the end I did the locally based admin work as a main job and just occasionally went to site work when requested and it suited me - Obviously the Systems side of things was windows based with a Workstation and server base. Before long even the programing/design was running of a windows base with even graphics being drawn and then auto-coded to make the system work - Some even allowed the design to be drawn and the system itself wrote the background code in a language such as C or C#, which could then be manually fine tuned in the code

Basically with my history there is not much that worries me, especially since I went independent a few years ago ...

Okay. I started with MS-dos back in 1987 and my first experience with windows was 3.1
I am completely self taught with hardware and software, I did a bit of hacking software and also online hacking of corporate servers between 1994 up to 2005 when one day the police came and took me by the ear. Hahaha :busted:
After that experience I stepped back on the right side of the law and I started studying 2009 and getting education and grades on my IT skills.
I think it was 1999or2000 I tried linux for the first time, but I gave up after a month when linux at that time felt a bit like old ms-dos in my eyes and I wanted the graphical interface. In 2018 I tried linux again and since almost a year back I use linux as my main OS.

So I, like you, do not worry much about computers and operating systems either. Most things can be modified to your own needs.
The only question is how much time it's worth spend on modifying something.

 

[Brink]

Windows 7 Extended Security Update support ends today January 10, 2023.

 

[Brink]

Support ends for Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7, 8.1 - Microsoft Community Hub

 

[ian50]

Simplix 23.1.11 Update (the last one, we expect) is now released.

Simplix (the author, that is) is a true Win 7 hero in my view. For quire some years, month after month, a simple method of updating a live Win 7 system with MS' protection against hacks (at least, that is MS viewpoint) without the spyware, telemetry and other snoopies was on freeware offer to a well-forecast timetable. Update stuff-ups were rare.

Not too many programmes can offer that sort of history. Yes, from one viewpoint, the programme simply bundled monthly MS updates into one applicable executable while removing the attributes we didn't want or need. But it worked - almost flawlessly.

 

[SIW2]

 

[Kitty Hawk]

Windows 7 Extended Security Update support ends today January 10, 2023.

aw those dirty dawgs.

Time is a tyrant, isn't it.

 

[ian50]

Just now I read from MDL:

"Windows Embedded Standard 7's would still receive updates until October 2023, and POSReady 7 still receive updates until October 2024"

Perhaps true, or true enough for Simplix to use ? Would be nice if it has legs.

 

[flavallee]

Just now I read from MDL:
"Windows Embedded Standard 7's would still receive updates until October 2023, and POSReady 7 still receive updates until October 2024"

The Microsoft Update Catalog site shows Windows Embedded Standard 7 security updates listed up to January 2023.
However, the MUC site shows Windows Embedded POSReady 7 security updates listed only up to January 2018.
If WEP7 will receive security updates until October 2024, I wonder why the MUC site stopped listing them 5 years ago.
:huh:

 

[ian50]

I wonder why the MUC site stopped listing them 5 years ago. [comment above]

It just means our information is inaccurate. No surprise at all ...

The biggest issue for us, or at the least me, to grapple with is the removal of Win 7 support in the chrome browsers (can Firefox be far behind ?) combined with the creeping refusal of critical websites such as banks to allow transactions over Win 7.

At this point, I've installed a dual boot with Win 7/Ubu. So far, those chrome browsers that have Ubu installations available, and Firefox as well, haven't been affected, but I suspect the problem with Linux browsers is that their use is not widespread so browser programmers have little incentive to keep providing updates for such a small audience ... I hope that's wrong, by the way. But who to trust ?

 

[thedude82]

Does anyone happen to know for sure if Microsoft Security Essentials definitions are affected too or whether MSE has actually been sunset now?

I've of course tried updating the definitions after January 13th, and it at least didn't give out any errors or anything/claimed to have successfully gotten updated definitions after ostensibly having downloaded them.

Avast is the only free antivirus afaik which is optimized for running flawlessly alongside MSE's real time protection (and which doesn't require any sort of registration), it also displays a proclivity for starting up and running with multiple processes and is kind of a resource hog, but that's a price i'd be willing to pay to securely keep using W7 - Though i do hope MSE will keep receiving definitions in either case.

In case MSE really isn't being updated anymore i will just add Avast to the then-legacy layer of MSE protection going forward.

 

[SIW2]

I expect there will be another update in a few hours

 

[thedude82]

I expect there will be another update in a few hours

Yeah everything looks okay here too in that regard - But the thing is MS doesn't do any big official statements on MSE's future anymore apparently. MSE being sunset in favour of Defender (the eponymous windows 10 one) was something i was concerned about, but as long as there's no error messages when trying to download new definitions for MSE such as "server can't be reached/no internet connection" or the like i will just assume that it's still doing its thing there.

Luckily there are very good fallback options should the plug be getting pulled on MSE any time soon.

By the way, here's a very good reddit post i came across yesterday on how to keep assorted programs running on Windows 7 when they're being crippled on purpose down the line by their devs not to run on Windows 7 machines anymore (happened with Brave and Chrome already of course, there's probably more examples).

 

[alohaman]

I am very suprized some other company does not start providing support for windows 7. microsoft and intel's only goal is to keep you upgrading constantly. I have a 2012 computer with an i7qm processor, a 2tb samsung ssd and 16gb of ram. I do not game. this computer is blazing fast. I mean it has instant response top anything i want to do. It has not broken down or had any issues in booting in like maybe 4 years. Why the hell would i want to upgrade if there was a choice? My attempts to upgrade several times a few years ago to windows 8 and windows 10 went badly. Every single time within a month or two the computer would not be able to boot. The repair options were completly worthless, it seemed like they were not even making an effort. Also as a computer guy, i talked with many people who had no idea how to run their programs anymore on 8 or 10. some of them were actually going into the program folders to start their programs. stupid design.

 

[BrainDamage]

Simplix is out with February updates