My blog this week is written by a guest, Ross Hendry from Interface Consulting and Engineering. Ross and I both write a monthly column in an expat magazine, The Deux-Sevres Monthly, here in SW France. This article caught my eye as I’m a user of Windows 7, who is just changing to Windows 10 as my PC has become so slow. Windows 10 is so much faster and doesn’t take long to get used to.

“All good things must come to an end, even Windows 7. After 14 January, 2020, Microsoft will no longer provide security updates or support for PCs running Windows 7. But you can keep the good times rolling by moving to Windows 10”

“Windows 7 support life-cycle – Microsoft, made a commitment to provide ten years of product support for Windows 7 when it was released on 22 October 2009. When this ten year period ends, Microsoft will discontinue Window 7 support so that we can focus our investment on supporting newer technologies and great experiences

After 14 January 2020, technical assistance and software updates from Windows Update, that protect your PC will no longer be available for the product. Microsoft strongly recommends that you move to Windows 10 (sometime before January 2020) to avoid a situation where you need service or support that is no longer available.”

The above two articles were published on 16 April 2019 by Microsoft. This means potential trouble for Windows 7 users from 14 January 2020, because the last security update will be sent out before 14 March 2020. However, this is only for non-enterprise licenced copies of the operation system. Support is available for $200 a year per enterprise (business) licence. Therefore, non-business users will not be permitted to have the most important security updates.

Top ten most popular operating systems

According to marketshare.com for the year ending April 2019, Windows 7 had 39.02% of the operating system market, with Windows 10 taking 39%; Windows 8.1 – 4.68%; MAC OS X 10.13 – 3.92%; Windows XP – 3.57%; MAC OS X 10.14 – 2.75%; Linux – 1.51%; MAC OS X 10.12 – 1.37%; Windows 8 – 0.93% and MAC OS X 10.11 HAD 0.88%.

Even though users could claim a free copy of the Windows 10 operating system when launched on 29 July 2015, nearly four years later, almost half of their users have not converted to the new OX. They must be quite disappointed.

So why should you move to the latest operating system?

…Because the newest one is faster, safer, more reliable; probably the most important reason is Windows 7 doesn’t support the latest Intel and AMD processors. And when extended support for Windows 7 ends next March, there will be no more security updates.

The good news is you may still get Windows 10 for free, although it gets harder after the first year. To qualify, you must have a legitimate Windows Licence for Windows 7.8 or 8.1.

If you would like to upgrade to Windows 10, please see the information on the following websites…

www.howtogeek.com/…/all-the-ways-you-can-still-get-windows-10-for-free/

www.zdnet.com/article/heres-how-you-can-still-get-a-free-windows-10-upgrade/

www.trustedreviews.com/news/windows-10-free-download-upgrade-2949184

There are, of course, other sites with information on this issue, just google search ‘how do I get Windows 10 for free?’

Alternatively, contact your IT support person. I am sure they will be able to help you. If you need any further information, please send me an email and I will try to help.

I also strongly recommend that if you PC came with Windows 7 on it when new, it is probably worth considering getting a new PC as this will come with Windows 10. It is then a relatively simple task to migrate the data from your old PC and load the latest versions of the programs you use. You will be pleasantly surprised how friendly Windows 10 is and after a few weeks, will wonder why you did not do it sooner!

Ross Hendry is the proprietor or Interface Consulting and Engineering, who has over 14 years’ experience in communications, computer technology and direct marketing.

“Good luck if you take on the upgrade yourself and please do not hesitate to call or email me if you have problems. I do not charge for telephone or online internet support for the first hour. Generally if the issue needs longer to resolve, I will need to visit you.”
Ross Hendry