Microsoft to end support for Windows 7 in Jan 2019

A new reminder for those who are still holding on to the Windows 7 operating system you have less than one year left until Microsoft ends support for its 9-year-old operating system. So it's time for you to upgrade your OS and say goodbye to Windows 7, as its five years of extended support will end on January 14, 2020.


After that date, the tech giant will no longer release free security updates, bug fixes and new functionalities for the operating system that's still widely used by people, which could eventually leave a significant number of users more susceptible to malware attacks.

However, the end of free support doesn't end Windows 7 support for big business and enterprise customers. As always, Microsoft does make exceptions for certain companies that are willing to pay a lot of money to continue their support.

According to a 'Death of Windows 7' report from content delivery firm Kollective, as many as 43% of enterprises are still running the nine-year-old operating system, of which 17% didn't know when Microsoft's end of support deadline hit.

Millions of Users Are Still Using Windows 7
Want to know how popular Windows 7 is among users? Even after aggressively pushing Windows 10 installations since its release in 2015, its market share finally managed to overtake the user-favorite Windows 7 just by the end of last year.

Windows 7 was released in 2009 and, according to December 2018 stats from Netmarketshare, is currently running on about 37 percent of the world's PC fleet, which is far ahead of its radically redesigned successor Windows 8 and 8.1 combined.

Microsoft stopped the mainstream support for Windows 7 in January 2015, but Windows users have continued to receive security updates and patches for known security issues as part of the company's extended support, which runs for at least five years.

In March 2017, Microsoft also started blocking new security patches and updates for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users running the latest processors from Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, and others.

"For Windows 7 to run on any modern silicon, device drivers and firmware need to emulate Windows 7's expectations for interrupt processing, bus support, and power states- which is challenging for WiFi, graphics, security, and more," the company said.

"The lifecycle begins when a product is released and ends when it’s no longer supported. Knowing key dates in this lifecycle helps you make informed decisions about when to update, upgrade or make other changes to your software."

Besides ending support for Windows 7 next year, Microsoft will also end support for MS Office 2010, Windows Server 2008/2008 R2, SQL Server 2008/2008 R2, Exchange 2010 and Windows Embedded 7 in 2020.

As for Windows 8, the operating system's extended support is set to end on January 10, 2023.

Data Privacy Day

Nearly every day is some kind of holiday or special observance at the local, state or national level. Some days are assigned to multiple causes.

Feb. 2, for example is Groundhog Day and Feb. 3 is the Super Bowl, an undeclared national holiday that’s always on a Sunday.

Data Privacy Day, which is Jan. 28, comes a few days before. It’s a less heralded observance that has become increasingly relevant in the digital era. The international observance is designed to increase public awareness of the importance of respecting privacy, safeguarding data and enabling trust.

The special day, promoted by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) has been observed in Europe since 1981 and in the United States since 2008. In 2014, Congress adopted a nonbinding resolution that expressed support for the observance.

Advances in high-tech fields such as automation and artificial intelligence, as well as old-fashioned criminal greed, have made digital data difficult to protect.

Transparency can help a company build trust. But, of course, transparency isn’t enough. Responsible businesses also recognize that they have a strong obligation to protect information about their customers and employees.

Among the resources available to help businesses enhance the security of electronic information is the NCSA-powered website, StaySafeOnline.org. The NCSA also supports “Stop. Think. Connect.” That’s a global campaign whose supporters include businesses, law enforcement agencies and the federal government.

Free information on the StaySafeOnline site includes a two-page technology checklist designed to help small and medium-sized businesses. The checklist addresses several general areas of concern, including the use of Wi-Fi, mobile devices, email and other digital tools.

The section on websites, for example, offers the following advice:

• Keep software up to date.
• Require users to create strong passwords.
• Prevent direct access for uploading files.
• Use scanning tools to test a site’s security.
• Register sites with spellings similar to your site.
• Run the most current versions of content management systems or require web administrator/hosts to do so.

As StaySafeOnline noted in a recent news release, people are living in an unparalleled age of technological growth. By 2020, there is expected to be more than four connected devices for every person in the world.

“As businesses learn to extract value from and utilize data at a deeper level, it is essential for companies to be extremely conscientious about protecting personal information,” according to the group. “For any organization, respecting consumers’ privacy is a smart strategy for inspiring trust and enhancing reputation and growth.”

StaySafeOnline encourages organizations to create a culture that values privacy. It also offers three simple tips to help businesses build a high level of trust:

• If your company collects data about consumers and employees, protect it.
• Be open and honest about how information is collected, used and shared.
• Do what you say you do.