Come January 2020, Microsoft said that it will be ending extended support for Windows 7 and some firms are worried.
The reason for that is many firms still run legacy software that may not work on modern operating systems such as Windows 10. The 2020 deadline is rather close and the prospect of having systems unsupported by security updates is harrowing.
In a bid to offer those that cannot or will not upgrade to a more modern operating system, Microsoft will begin offering paid Windows 7 Extended Security Updates (ESUs).
This service will only be available until January 2023 at which point Microsoft will either permanently end support for Windows 7 or offer those still on the operating system yet another way to extend support. Our money is on the former as it must be costing Microsoft a pretty penny to continue supporting Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 along with all the iterations within those products.
The Redmond software giant hasn’t revealed pricing for these extended security updates but has said that the offer will be sold on a per-device basis and pricing will increase each year.
That could start adding up for firms and it might make sense for those still running Windows 7 to start exploring how to make the transition to Windows 10.
“Windows 7 ESUs will be available to all Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Enterprise customers in Volume Licensing, with a discount to customers with Windows software assurance, Windows 10 Enterprise or Windows 10 Education subscriptions. In addition, Office 365 ProPlus will be supported on devices with active Windows 7 Extended Security Updates (ESU) through January 2023. This means that customers who purchase the Windows 7 ESU will be able to continue to run Office 365 ProPlus,” wrote Microsoft corporate vice president for Office and Windows marketing, Jared Spataro.
Despite this extended support Microsoft is pushing the benefits of running Windows 10 more than ever before. The firm has introduced a bevy of new tools that should make it easier to deploy Windows 10 and manage upgrades and updates more effectively.
The deadline is set then, there are just five more years left to make the move from Windows 7 to Windows 10.
