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

[BenyaminL]

Hello, I want to ask some people, as Windows 7 EOL is near, will you keep your laptop or PC with windows 7 or upgrade to windows 10 or maybe just switch to *nix based OS. Thanks for reply to my thread.. I need recommendation because my laptop is ASUS A43SV, with i5-2430m, nVidia GT 540m and 16gigs ram DDR3L with some other specs, which last year I upgrade to windows 10 and it always overheat even I fresh install it. It makes me sad so I stay with the OEM preinstalled OS with Windows 7 OEM. Will it okay for me to keep the windows 10 forever? Thanks

 

[Megahertz07]

End of support will be in two years. It doesn't mean that the computer will be useless. It will work as it does today.
M$ will only stop delivering the security updates.
I still have an old laptop with win XP. It works the same way. It's my backup computer. Some programs new versions, like Skype doesn't run on it, but the old version does.

I don't like Win 10 so I will keep using win 7 after end of support. And I'm downloading the offline updates so I can reinstall them in case of a fresh install. MS releases SP2 for Windows 7 - Windows 7 Help Forums.

Linux is a better OS than Windows, (faster, secure and free) so I'm getting use to it. I have it on another HDD.
I have Lubuntu, but most of us on the forum use Ubuntu, Zorin and Mint.

 

[Pete4]

My computer is set up as dual boot, Win 7 and Win 10, so for heavy internet I'll use Win10 for security, Win 7 will be my back up, with less internet access and with good firewall and common sense should not have issues. I also have Linux on memory stick, which can also be used for internet access. BTW you can set up Win 10, so it works pretty well but it's time consuming, however at some point, you'll have no choice. I suspect your overheating issue is caused by background processes (like telemetry and this freaking constant updates), which are difficult to eliminate, but it can be done and I'm at the point, where I can actually tolerate it. For example telling Win10 you're on metered internet access will limit auto updates, so you can do it when YOU WANT, not in the middle of some important work you struggle to finish. I think dual boot is my key point here: learn to tame Win10, slowly on your own time and still have fully functional computer, when need it.

 

[BogdanH]

Speaking for me (home PC user), EndOfSupport for Win7 doesn't really bother me much. As poster before me said, in 5 years, Win7 will work the same as today -reliable and simple.
I am more worried about future hardware.. A year ago I upgraded my PC to Skylake CPU (H170 chipset), when "Win7 not supported" became more apparent. Luckily, solution was quite simple (slipstream "new USB3.x" drivers into Win7 ISO). Still, no matter how much I "like" Win7, at some point I will need to decide.
At that time (a year ago), I gave Win10 a serious try (for second time).. I mean, I really wanted to "adopt" Win10. But after two weeks I gave up. Btw. I tried linux years ago.. but I think it's easier to switch from Win7 to Win10 than to Linux (needs separate topic).
Right now I'm seriously checking for so called "Lite" versions of Win10 -which seems promising according to feedback from those who installed Lite. I have enough time to decide.. Win7 is working perfect so far.
Greetings

 

[lehnerus2000]

Convert To A Virtual Machine

You can convert your current W7 install to a VHD using Macrium Reflect.
http://kb.macrium.com/KnowledgebaseArticle50005.aspx?Keywords=VHD

You could then run it as a VM on Linux Host OS (using VirtualBox, VMware Player, etc.) with the virtual network disabled.
If you need to surf the Internet you use the Linux Host OS instead of W7.

Some Linux Distros (like Ubuntu, Linux Mint, CentOS, MX17, etc.) aren't much different from Windows.

You can download an ISO, create a Live Linux CD/DVD/USB and run/test it without having to install it on your machine.
You can also check out reviews on forums like this one:
https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/linux-mint-sylvia.html
https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/best-distro-2017.html
https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/kubuntu-aardvark-upgrade.html
https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/mx-17.html

 

[BogdanH]

Just adding to my post above (for further consideration):

I made only six security updates for my Win7x64-SP1. Just after my post above, I decided to run two more updates: KB4056897 (meltdown patch) and KB4056894 (monthly security roll-up January 2018). And ques what.. Windows Explorer refuses to rename any folder at first attempt -rename succeeds after Try again.
After checking the web, someone found solution for that bug: I needed to remove certain registry keys -and it works so far. But who knows where else can/will I get "weird behavior".. maybe assuming I got some virus/malware. I refused to update Win7 for years and everything worked well. Now I made security(!) update and problem arise.
Btw. this bug is known for at least two years, but as it seems, MS doesn't care. Ok, one would think Win7 is an "old story". But going to Win10 forums one can see similar thing (bugged updates which fixes previous bug). My impression about MS... Over the years, generation there changed (sloppy programmers), philosophy changed, people in charge changed. They just shovel update after update and user accept them (thinking "one need to be up to date") without second though. And if PC doesn't work as expected (or used to), it's usually considered as "user's fault".
As I said in my post above: I have enough time to decide.. and it might be Linux as well.

 

[MSClin]

I will not use Windows 10, even if they pay me to do it.

I will stick to Windows 7, it will be the same after the support ends, just no security updates (which of course is still a bad thing), but for sure my primary OS will be Linux. I use Linux and I'm really happy with it, I mostly write code, I'm developer. The only downside to Linux is the games compatibility, but I don't play many games, just a few. I keep Windows installed for games. It's stupid to use Linux as a gaming OS (well, that's not 100% true, but most times it is). Those people who uses computer mainly for games should stick with Windows 7 or 10.

By the way, Windows 7 extended support will end at 14 January, 2020. That's 2 years, so you should not worry at this point.

 

[mrjimphelps]

I created a Linux Mint xfce DVD, so I could boot to it and install Mint from it. I then removed my Windows 7 hard drive, and stored it safely away, in case I ever need it in the future. I then installed a new hard drive.

I then booted with the Linux Mint DVD, and installed Linux Mint to my new hard drive. I installed VMWare Workstation Player, and set up two virtual machines: one for Windows 7 and one for Windows 8.1. I did clean installs of 7 and 8.1 in the VMs.

I do almost everything in Linux. But there are a few things I can't do in Linux, such as Windows Movie Maker, so I use the 7 or 8.1 VMs for those things.

I find it very satisfying to work entirely in Linux Mint, and to keep Windows around in case I need it for something. But I very much enjoy Windows being the step-child rather than the host OS: If I need it, I open a Windows session. When I am done, I close it, and it disappears till I need it again.

The reason I also set up an 8.1 VM is because Windows 8.1 will be supported till 2023. This gives me a few more years with a supported Windows version, in case I must have Windows for some reason. To tell you the truth, it works out fine, because I have installed Classic Shell, and so it is just like Windows 7.

If you go the Linux-as-host / Windows-as-VM route, and if you're going to use the VM a lot, make sure you have plenty of memory (at least 8 GB). I have only 4 GB, and so the VM is slow sometimes. But I hardly ever use the VM, so it's not a big deal with me.

 

[tetraps]

Tough to say. By that point my Win 7 desktop build will be ~3.5 years old. I'd like to continue using it thereafter but might opt for a Linux dual boot setup to use Windows as necessary (e.g. gaming) and Linux for most everyday use (browsing).

It all really depends on what the security landscape is at that point. If there's some way to keep the system secure, maybe with custom-developed security updates by the community (didn't something like that happen for XP?) then I'd like to stay with 7 a couple years after its EOL.

Longer term maybe I'll go AMD + Linux.

 

[lehnerus2000]

If you go the Linux-as-host / Windows-as-VM route, and if you're going to use the VM a lot, make sure you have plenty of memory (at least 8 GB). I have only 4 GB, and so the VM is slow sometimes. But I hardly ever use the VM, so it's not a big deal with me.

Agreed.

Also (for VM newbies) remember to leave enough RAM for your Host OS and software.

I have 12GB of RAM and my VMs are allocated a maximum of 8GB (I only run one VM at a time).
That leaves me 4GB, allowing me to surf the Internet on my Host OS using modern RAM-hungry browsers.

The first time I gave a VM to one of my friends, he allocated all of his machine's RAM to the VM, which caused performance issues.

 

[72010]

I will do absolutely nothing. Keep running windows 7.

 

[TechnoMage2016]

Good answer, and why would we who like Win-7 do anything else?

 

[Layback Bear]

Use what ever Windows you care to use.
I use both Windows 10 and Windows 7.

I'm on Windows 7 at the present time on this computer and Windows 10 on the other computer, which is dual boot Windows 7 and Windows 10.
Windows 10 is a more secure operating system.

Jack

 

[JoWazzoo]

I just moved from XP and OLD machine to a $150 HP 8000 with 19 "monitor and Windows 7. Intend to use it as long as possible. Dislike Win 8 - hate 10. So I will be learning Linux over the next few years and say bye-bye to M$ - who I have used since DOS 1.1 and Windows 1.0. I do like Win 7 and will likely use it up to a year after support ends.

Good backups and security, security, security go a long way.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Marketing

Windows 10 is a more secure operating system.

MS said that about W8, W7, Vista, etc.
Empirical data doesn't support MS' Marketing Division claims.

From CVE Details list of "Top 50 Products By Total Number Of "Distinct" Vulnerabilities":

In 2015, W10 entered the list in 46th place:
https://www.cvedetails.com/top-50-products.php?year=2015

In 2016, W10 rocketed to 14th place:
https://www.cvedetails.com/top-50-products.php?year=2016

In 2017, W10 climbed to 6th place:
https://www.cvedetails.com/top-50-products.php?year=2017
​

Note:
To pre-emptively discredit claims that they are just "MS Haters", they also reported that:

• Mac OS X had more issues than any version of Windows
• Linux Kernel had more issues than any version of Windows in 2016 & 2017

That info is also basically confirmed by other companies like Avetco (although they each use their own methodologies).

Avecto notes that Windows 10, dubbed the most secure operating system ever by Microsoft, had the largest total number of reported vulnerabilities of all supported versions of Windows. Windows 10 was affected by 395 different vulnerabilities, compared to 265 for Windows 8.1 for instance.
​

(Emphasis added by me)
https://www.ghacks.net/2017/02/23/n...igate-94-of-critical-windows-vulnerabilities/
​

It remains to be seen whether shoehorning EMET into W10 will make it better:
https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/windows-10-exploit-protection-guide.html

 

[OvenMaster]

I'll keep using 7 so long as my hardware keeps running. In my book, Reliability is more important than Speed.
When my hardware makes a new OS necessary, I'll just buy and use whichever version of Windows is current, doing my best to mitigate phoning home and security issues. If that's 10, so be it.
Linux for me is not a serious option. I've tried at least four different flavors of it over the years and they all drove me crazy. No thanks. I prefer to install an OS that actually works.

 

[MSClin]

Windows 10 is a more secure operating system.

That is very incorrect.

For now Windows 10 is more vulnerable than Windows 7. W10 may be the most supported version of Windows, but it is the most vulnerable due to the fact that it is new (well, not really new, but the latest). New OS = new vulnerabilities.

And the privacy in Windows 10 is at bad level. You will need to go and do through couple of settings and software to stop most of the spying.

 

[mrjimphelps]

The first time I gave a VM to one of my friends, he allocated all of his machine's RAM to the VM, which caused performance issues.

Ya think?

 

[Layback Bear]

If one doesn't turn off many things in Windows 10 I do believe their are many doors left open.
So to the best of my ability I turned things off. Cortana and Edge to me are major problems. The cloud BS is also a danger. That is why I don't use such things. It takes a couple of week to figure out what one wants active and what one doesn't want active.
I don't have a problem with Windows 7. I'm on the "7" computer now as I type. Thinking back I also had to do trickery with Windows 7 when I first installed it years ago.
I'm just getting use to Windows 10. It is a learning experience like all new operating systems.
I don't hate either Windows 7 or Windows 10; I just learn to use both.
Thinking back, I didn't think I would ever move off of "XP" but here I am today.
We are lucky that we have choices at this time.

Jack

 

[matfx]

Im just keep running Windows 7 til its end of life support in 2020.