Windows 7 EOL

Windows 7 Support ending soon

Well it’s not long now before Windows 7 reaches End Of Life (EOL). So what does this mean for you, and what do you need to do?

Never10

Don’t want Windows 10 forced upon you?

Stop Windows 10 upgrade notificationsSo over the last few months, I’ve had Lot’s, and Lot’s and LOT’S of people have been contacting me about Windows 10 automatically being forced upon them without specifically initiating the upgrade.

Well in my opinion, the word “forced” isn’t quite accurate.

Somewhere along the line, the End User has “Reserved” their copy of the free Windows 10 upgrade, which has subsequently set them on a path that, along with ongoing Windows updates, lead to an apparently automated upgrade to Windows 10.

Now whilst it is true that you can “Roll Back” Windows 10, there may be some consequences. The first of which is the time taken whilst the upgrade takes place, and the second is the time taken to roll it back.

The other consequence is the possible loss of data.

I had one customer who claimed to have lost all his Favorites.

So what to do if you want to stop those Windows 10 upgrade notifications?

Well I have come across a free little utility called Never10.

When run, it will disable the Windows 10 upgrade notifications.

So if you have had enough of the persistent Windows 10 upgrade notifications, give it a try.

You can download it from https://www.grc.com/never10.htm

Windows 7 to be retired

Only Windows 10 from the middle of next year

Windows 7 to be retiredThis will not please a lot of my customers, but it had to happen sooner or later.

Microsoft have given notice to its OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) partners that they must no longer sell PC’s or Laptops with an Operating System older than Windows 10 from the middle of next year.

According to Microsoft’s Windows Lifecycle Fact Sheet, Windows 8 sales must also end as of 1st July next year, and Windows 7 Professional and Windows 8.1 will no longer be allowed to be pre-installed on new PC’s and Laptops from 1st November 2016, .

The Home Basic, Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Windows 7 were retired by Microsoft on 1st November last year.

Windows 7 launched in October 2009, and Microsoft has permitted it to continue to be sold substantially longer than Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 which both arrived in 2013.

So I guess the salient point here is that if you want a new PC or Laptop with Windows 7, you will need to purchase it within the next 7 or 8 months.