Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?

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Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?

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Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?
True, if you’re using WSUS (Windows Server Update Services), you’re golden. But if you use Windows Update or Windows Update for Business, you’re stuck with the fat updates.

There are two problems with this. First, those patch rollups are heading to 300MB to 500MB in size. That’s a lot of bandwidth for, say, a remote office still using 3 Mbit/sec. DSL. Second, since every month’s plump patch package installs every fix since October 2016, if any patch breaks something, anything, the entire rollup fails and — well, you get the picture.

But what’s really ticking me off today isn’t any of those. They’re old news. No, the real annoyance is that, with a year and a half of Windows 7 support yet, Microsoft staffers will no longer be answering Microsoft Community forum questions about Windows 7.
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Re: Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?

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Updating Windows 7 is getting harder and more expensive
Do you still have desktop systems running Windows 7? Then you surely know by now that Jan. 14, 2020—a Patch Tuesday—is the last day Microsoft issues security updates for the operating system. (While you are marking your calendar: January 2023 is the scheduled end of security support for Windows 8.1.)

The schedule for embedded systems running Windows 7-based operating systems is different. There are a few editions. The support expiration dates are:

Oct. 13, 2020: Windows Embedded Standard 7 Service Pack 1. This is the mainstream edition, which more complex products run, such as ATMs, medical devices, and gaming machines.
April 13, 2021: Windows Embedded Compact 7. This is for small, limited-purpose devices, such as handheld scanners.
Oct. 12, 2021: Windows Embedded POSReady 7. This is based on Standard, with special features targeting point-of-sale systems.
Otherwise you can update with Windows 10 until it breaks your PC...
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Re: Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?

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Microsoft's killer Windows 7 patch: Breaks networking, flags legit PCs as 'Not genuine'
This time they've found that its January security updates are bricking Windows 7 devices with an errant 'Not Genuine' Windows license error, and a bug that blocks administrator access to remote shares on Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7.

The issues stem from the Monthly Rollup update, KB4480970, and the security-only update, KB4480960, for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.
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Re: Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?

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Microsoft turning the screws on Windows 7 users by targeting Windows Media Player
This means that new metadata won’t be updated on media players that are installed on your Windows device. However, any information that’s already been downloaded will still be available. This change doesn’t affect any major media player functionality such as playback, navigating collections, media streaming, and so forth. Only secondary features that require downloading of new metadata are potentially affected.

The issue interestingly only affects WMP and WMC on Windows 7, and does not affect WMP running on Windows 8 or Windows 10 for example.
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Re: Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?

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Windows 7 users: You need SHA-2 support or no Windows updates after July 2019
Microsoft has published a timeline for migrating these operating systems to SHA-2, with support for the algorithm coming in standalone updates. On March 12, Microsoft is planning a standalone update with SHA-2 code sign support for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. It also will deliver to WSUS 3.0 SP2 the required support for delivering SHA-2 updates.

Microsoft will make available a standalone update with SHA-2 code sign support for Windows Server 2008 SP2 on April 9, 2019.
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Re: Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?

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Windows 7 users to receive notifications from Microsoft about end of support
Microsoft is planning to push notifications to Windows 7 users warning them about the upcoming end of support. The software giant will stop supporting Windows 7 on January 14th, 2020, and it will start warning consumers about this cutoff date next month. Microsoft’s end of support date means that Windows 7 and Office 2010 will no longer receive security updates, and the company wants consumers to upgrade to Windows 10 PCs and Office 365.

Microsoft has learned from its persistent nagging notifications during the free Windows 10 upgrade period, and Windows 7 users will be able to select “do not remind me again” on the notification so they never see it again. If they simply dismiss it by closing the prompt, then it will trigger again. Microsoft says it will only be displayed a “handful” of times during 2019, and the notifications will stop once Windows 7 support ends in January.
Too bad if you already tried and could not upgrade to 10...
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Re: Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?

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Microsoft advances the death of Windows 8 by 4 years
On August 20, 2018, Microsoft made a blog post designed to help developers “effectively plan your development cycles.”

The blog post was aimed at telling developers when the Microsoft Store would stop accepting and distributing apps to Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 devices and in short, said Microsoft would stop accepting new app submissions for Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and WP8.x on the 31st October 2018.

Then on July 1st, 2019, Microsoft would stop distributing app updates to Windows Phone 8.x or earlier devices and on July 1st, 2023 Microsoft was planning to stop distributing app updates to Windows 8/8.1 devices.

Microsoft however quietly updated the blog post on the 2nd April 2019 with a major change for Windows 8 (not the slightly more popular Windows 8.1).

That operating system would now stop receiving app updates on the 1st July 2019, instead of the earlier 1st July 2023.
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Re: Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?

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Microsoft to make Windows 7 Extended Security Updates available to all business users
Beginning December 1, 2019, small-and-midsize businesses (SMBs) also will be able to purchase ESUs if they are not going to be ready to get off Windows 7 as of January 14, 2020, which is the date Microsoft will end free support (and security updates) for the product. SMBs will be able to get the ESUs for up to three years by purchasing them from qualified Cloud Solution Provider partners, officials said.
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Re: Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?

Post by Erik »

My work computer is still Win 7... I work on legacy systems so actually getting an upgrade come EOL in 2020 will be a coin toss for me.
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Re: Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?

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What happens after Windows 7's retirement?
Nothing immediately.

The operating system will continue to work or not, as it did or didn't, for each user the day before support retirement. That's important to remember, if only because some still don't - assuming that after midnight on Jan. 14, 2020, the OS screeches to a stop.

Even Microsoft reminds customers that Windows 7 will continue to run post-retirement, although it could move those reminders closer to the top of its to-do list. In this FAQ about the end of support, Microsoft waited until the fifth item before making note of the operating system's resilience. "If you continue to use Windows 7 after support has ended, your PC will still work," Microsoft pledged, also noting that, "Your PC will continue to start and run."
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Re: Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?

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Microsoft to end updates to Windows 7's free AV software, Security Essentials
"No, your Windows 7 computer is not protected by MSE ((Microsoft Security Essentials)) after January 14, 2020," the company said in a support document mainly concerned about the Extended Security Updates (ESU) being shilled to enterprises. "MSE is unique to Windows 7 and follows the same lifecycle dates for support."
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Re: Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?

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Here's what will happen to your Windows 7 PC on January 15, 2020
Microsoft is ready to push a full-screen warning to Windows 7 users who are still running the OS after January 14. The nag-screen payload is part of the December 10 Patch Tuesday monthly rollup.
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Re: Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?

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You Can Still Upgrade to Windows 10 For Free, Here's How
Microsoft doesn’t talk about that Windows 10 free upgrade offer anymore, but devices with legitimate Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 licenses could be upgraded to Windows 10 for free using the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool.

To get Windows 10, you’ll just have to download and run Media Creation Tool on Windows 7/8/8.1 and upgrade the PC to Windows 10. After the upgrade, connect to the internet and your older Windows license will be converted to a Windows 10 license.
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Re: Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?

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Microsoft Patch Alert: December patches hang Win7 Pro endpoints and force Server 2012 reboots
“In our investigation we confirmed the problem having to do with KB4530734 (December Monthly Rollup for Windows 7 Service Pack 1). More specifically, we believe it had something to do with KB4531786 (Servicing stack update for Windows 7 SP1 and Server 2008 R2 SP1: December 10, 2019) applying out of order. Interestingly, if you look at the notes for the December rollup it specifies a recommendation to install the SSU afterward (not a requirement). Lastly, we found some (not all) machines in various states of "Uninstall_Pending" regarding the November Monthly Rollup….”

Those of you using plain old single-system Monthly Rollups won’t encounter the problem. But if you or your system’s admin is manually installing patches, getting them in the wrong order can cause all sorts of problems. Manually installing the Servicing Stack Update can be particularly vexing because SSUs won’t show up until you’ve installed (or hidden) all outstanding patches.
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Re: Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?

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Quickly Upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 10 for Free With This PowerShell Script
If you, or someone you know, has been clinging to Windows 7 until the bitter end, you should know that your operating system won’t receive any more security updates past January 15. Now is as good a time as any to finally upgrade your system to Windows 10, especially since it might be free—and because I found a super-simple PowerShell script that makes it easy to perform an unattended upgrade.
If You Can't Upgrade From Windows 7 to Windows 10, What Should You Do?
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Re: Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?

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Windows 7 is getting a new update – to fix black wallpaper bug
"After installing KB4534310, your desktop wallpaper might display as black when set to Stretch," said Microsoft.

It's also promised to provide a fix in an update that will be made available to everyone running Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 RS SP1.

Microsoft says the issue can be resolved by setting the custom image to any option other than Stretch, such as Fill, Fit, Tile, or Center.
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Re: Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?

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Windows 7 bug prevents users from shutting down or rebooting computers
Windows 7 users have been reporting that they are receiving a popup message that reads "You don't have permission to shut down this computer" every time they attempt to shut down or reboot their systems.

The cause of the bug remains unknown at the time of writing.

For the past two days, users have been scratching their heads for solutions around the problem. The good news is that they've found at least three temporary workarounds and one unofficial fix to resolve the issue.
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Re: Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?

Post by Erik »

My work computer was finally force upgraded from Win 7 to Win 10 after many failed attempts.

I was hesitant to do the swap because with my job I work on a very very very old code base (90s) and was afraid my tools would no longer work. Glad to say that everything moved over okay to Win 10. Still miss the classic theme though.
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Re: Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?

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I upgraded 2 XP computers to Windows 7 then tried to go to 10, but one would not pass
the testing procedure that Microsoft had set up originally. The laptop is still updating but
it is getting slower and more unstable as it goes.

I gather you got Windows 10 free still. You can read about my travails in my Win 10
thread here. Some of the bi-annual upgrades took over 6 months to upgrade to.
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Re: Is Microsoft already killing off Windows 7?

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Windows 7 and Server 2008 zero-day bug gets a free patch
An unpatched local privilege escalation (LPE) vulnerability affecting all Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 devices received a free and temporary fix today through the 0patch platform.

The zero-day bug affects all impacted devices, enrolled in Microsoft's Extended Security Updates (ESU) program or not until the company will release its own security updates to ESU customers.

0patch's free micropatch is targeting Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 computers without ESU (updated to January 2020) and those with ESU (updated to November 2020).

At the moment, only small-and-midsize businesses or organizations with volume-licensing agreements can get an ESU license until January 2023.
This micropatch is available for free to everyone until Microsoft releases an official fix for the zero-day to address the registry bad permission issues.
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