Death of Windows 7. What exactly will happen and what to do about it

Microsoft has announced that the life cycle of Windows 7 is coming to an end. In less than a year, on January 14, 2020, Microsoft will officially end support for this operating system.

Windows 7 will be ten years old this summer. The operating system was launched on July 22, 2009. But, despite the very advanced age, the Seven remains very popular. According to Netmarketshare, 39% of PC users use it to this day. So, with the end of Windows 7, it’s time for millions of people around the world to start thinking about the future.

So, let’s figure out what exactly will happen to the Seven and how to live on.

What’s happening?

Windows 7 is already at the final stage of its existence. Microsoft decided long ago that it makes no sense for it to develop the old operating system, and focused on Windows 10. The seven stopped receiving general updates four years ago, from January 13, 2015. New functions have ceased to be developed, warranty support has ceased. Currently, only the most important security updates are released for Windows 7. The current period is called the “extended support phase”. And this phase will end in a year, on January 14, 2020.

What will happen on January 15, 2020? At first glance — nothing. At first, you won’t notice any difference. The official «death» of the operating system does not mean that your computer will stop starting. You can use Seven for as long as you want. After all, even today you can find people still working with Windows XP and Windows 98.

The main problem is that Windows 7 will no longer receive security updates. This is a more serious problem than it might seem at first glance, and it entails a whole chain of troubles.

chain of trouble

Computer viruses are not born by themselves. They are written with specific goals in mind. After the end of support, Windows 7 will inevitably become one of the most tasty targets. The attackers are well aware that many users will continue to work on the Seven even after its official end. Such users will lose the protection provided to them by regular updates. With the advent of new viruses, machines running Windows 7 will increasingly infect each other. Thus, every day the endangered ecosystem of the Seven will become more and more dangerous.

The software will also cause problems. Since Windows 7 will be officially listed as dead, developers will stop releasing new versions of programs for this operating system. Today it is difficult to find modern software that would be compatible with Windows XP. In a couple of years, the same problems will begin with the Seven.

Gamers will also have a hard time. Over time, PC games will start to be released exclusively for Windows 10. In general, Windows 7 is doomed, whether we like it or not.

How to live on?

Windows 7 users don’t have many options. They can switch to the new Windows 10 (buy a key from softmart.ua or similar software stores) or try to move to the Linux camp.

Windows 10

In the first year of its existence, Windows 10 managed to earn notoriety. The operating system spied on the user, removed unlicensed programs on its own, and the situation with annoying forced updates became an Internet meme. In general, Ten behaved as if she were the owner of the computer.

However, now Windows 10 is no longer so scary. Recently, there have been many ways to rein in the obstinate operating system. You can easily find instructions on the Web that tell you how to turn off spyware, how to “plug your ears” to the voice assistant, how to prevent the browser from collecting information. In general, you will be able to kick Microsoft in playful little hands without any problems.

Pirates, by the way, also did not stand aside. We do not undertake to evaluate their actions from an ethical or legal point of view, we only report that on torrent trackers today you can find a variety of assemblies of the Ten, including already pacified and tamed ones.

In general, switching to Windows 10 should not be a big problem for you. The system is well optimized. To work, it requires a machine with the following minimum configuration:

• Processor: 1 GHz or faster
• RAM: 1 GB for 32-bit or 2 GB for 64-bit
• Hard drive: 16 GB for 32-bit or 20 GB for 64-bit
• Video Card: DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 support
• Monitor: 800 x 600 minimum resolution

As you can see, these are rather modest requirements. If you are currently running Windows 7, then Windows 10 will start up without any problems.

But there is no point in switching to Windows 8. First, he’s disgusting. Secondly, he will not live much longer than Windows 7, while the Ten has clearly come for a long time.

Linux

Linux is a whole family of operating systems based on the Linux kernel. All of them are free and developed by enthusiasts.

There was a time when Linux was considered something scary, complex and incomprehensible. Modern distributions are quite friendly, have a decent appearance and, in general, look no worse than Windows.

One of the more popular options is Ubuntu. Many consider this distribution to be the perfect choice for a person who decides to switch from Windows to Linux.

Another good option is Linux Mint, which completely copies the interface of Windows 7.

A large number of Linux distributions are designed for older hardware. There is, for example, TinyCore — an operating system that «weighs» only 16 megabytes and requires 128 MB of RAM to work.

Linux has its downsides too. No matter how much this or that distribution looks like Windows outwardly, we must not forget that it is based on a completely different kernel. Much will be unusual. The software you are used to, like Microsoft Word, will not work on Linux. Of course, there are alternatives like LibreOffice, but they also take some getting used to.

For those programs that do not have Linux versions, there is a WINE shell. This tool allows you to run Windows applications under Linux. It is also the only option for gamers — 99% of Linux games don’t work.

In general, Linux is incredibly attractive in its flexibility and variety of forms, but it may seem unusual and not very convenient for users who are used to working with Windows. Switch to it if you are not afraid to experiment and discover something new.