Microsoft to End Support for Windows 7 This Tuesday
The company has continued to support Windows 7 for businesses that are still using it as part of the ESU program even though it reached the end of support in January 2020.
Only security patches were included in the Extended Security Update program, which was offered to paying customers as part of the monthly Patch Tuesday cycle.
However, Windows 7 is getting ready to say its last goodbye as it is already in its third year of extended security updates. The last security update from Microsoft will be applied to the operating system on January 10 as the ESU program has already been terminated.
Microsoft encourages users to update to newer versions of Windows.
“During the three years that the offer is offered, organizations may purchase ESU at any time” (2020, 2021, and 2022). An organization will also be responsible for the prior years’ fees if it waits and buys ESU for the first time in years two or three. The cumulative nature of the security upgrades provided by the ESU program is the reason, according to Microsoft.
“Even though enterprises can buy ESU at any point, they won’t have gotten any security or bug fixes since January 14, 2020 if they don’t buy it. Additionally, these clients no longer receive any kind of support from Microsoft Support.
However, the ESU program only offers extended updates to consumers for a maximum of three years after an operating system is discontinued, so now everyone either upgrade to a more recent version or continue using Windows 7 while taking the security risks associated with running outdated software.
On the other hand, there are still third-party patching options available because 0patch, one of the top players in this market, will keep releasing security patches for Windows 7 machines even after Microsoft entirely abandons the operating system.
