End of Life for Windows 7
submitted by Chris Rohde
Are you still using Windows 7? Did you know that Microsoft ended their support of Windows 7 on January 14, 2020? What does that mean? What happens if I don’t upgrade? How do I upgrade, and will my computer handle the upgrade?
There are so many questions, and if you are not tech savvy, you may become overwhelmed with all of this. First of all, how can you tell if you are still using windows 7? Look in the lower left part of your computer screen and you will either see a box with 4 white squares, or a circle with 4 color boxes. If it is the circle like the picture here, you most likely have Windows 7 or a program that makes your computer look like Windows 7. If you are not sure, have an expert or someone who knows more about computers check for you.
What does this all mean? Well, it is not the end of the world for your computer, it just means that Microsoft and other companies will no longer support updates to any computer running Windows 7. If that is all that is happening, well, good, I don’t like updates, no harm done, right? Wrong. Without the updates, it could cause issues for you sometime in the future. Those that would be affected first would be those that use the internet with secure connections. If you do online banking, make purchases through web sites, file tax returns through your computer, etc. you most likely will be affected. As time goes on, security changes on your internet browser, such as IE and Chrome, and without those updates, the browsers will no longer be secure and certain websites will not allow you to visit their site until you have the updates.
I don’t do any of that online banking or purchasing on my computer, so why should I change? Even if you don’t do any of that, chances are you may use facebook, email, or visit webpages. Eventually your browser will become outdated and even those programs and sites will no longer work. You will also be leaving your computer vulnerable to hackers, spammers, and viruses.
Most computers less than 8 years old should handle the upgrade. When you are ready to upgrade and run the software, it will automatically check your computer before doing the upgrade. Some older software may not work after the upgrade and it will generally tell you which ones they are before accepting to upgrade. If you have software that is not compatible with the upgrade to 10, that does not necessarily mean that you will no longer be able to use that program again. There are options such as upgrading to a newer edition of the program. If that is not an option, and you must run the program in Windows 7 or XP, you are in luck. There is an option to create what’s called a “virtual computer” on to your existing computer that will run in an older edition of Windows. This way you have the best of both worlds. You now have the security of the updated operating system and you can still run all of your favorite programs that you loved to use on your older computer. If you have questions, or are still unsure of what this end of life means to your computer, feel free to ask a computer expert or someone with some computer expertise, before running out to purchase a new computer.