Am I Screwed If I Don't Upgrade Windows 7 by January 15? (*Spoiler*: Well, it depends...)

LifeHacker ^ | Jan 10, 2020 | David Murphy

[DiogenesLamp]

I'm still running XP.

I don't even like all the pointless changes they made to windows 7, which I have on one machine. I have another that runs Windows 8, and that is the most godawful mess they ever created. Needless to say I won't use that machine.

[CIB-173RDABN]

My first computer was a VIC 20 with 4k memory! I bought the upgrade that gave me 16K.

I learn to write BASIC code (but never was any good at it).

So I have used every Windows version up to WIN 10. I am comfortable with my VISTA and it has all the software I need on it so as long as it works, there is no need to upgrade.

[Unrepentant VN Vet]

...any email clients out there that are worth a hoot and that can do what Outlook does.

I've had good luck with eM Client.

Mostly it just works, but as far as ease of use of the Contacts, it doesn't cause me a percent the grief/hairpulling that OOOtLook does.

[Robert357]

Windows 7 is much more stable than Windows 10. If you are running Windows 7, it is probably on an older machine. Sooner or later that machine will need a new power supply or the old CPU and probably limited amount of memory will become just too little for new software that may tempt you.

Finally, at some point you will likely want to use new peripherals that use things the Windows 7 and its packaged drivers don't really support say that use USB C power & video.

The point is I have some window's 10 machines, and a Windows 7. I am not going to upgrade the Windows 7, but i will be careful as to the files I examine and I will back things up regularly.

[timestax]

bttt

[DJ Frisat]

LOL — so if I count you twice, that makes 3 of you!

[DJ Frisat]

"My first computer was a VIC 20 with 4k memory! I bought the upgrade that gave me 16K."

Wow! What did you need all that memory for?

My first one was a COSMAC Elf, with 256 BYTES of memory. (Look it up if you don't believe me...)

[caww]

Probably...I do have a newer mac Laptop given to me but too lazy to make the switch! LLOLL

[Abigail Adams]

Bookmark for later.

[musicman]

BTTT!!

[zeugma]

Yeah, subtle but effective. :-) And that "2079" figure was true when Win10 first came out (about 3GB) but these days it would be more like 3500 floppies.

I'm looking around and trying to find documentation on exactly how thick they are. I would be interested in how big a stack that would be. A better real-world measurement would be to stack up 100 of them, measure it, then divide by 100. :-)

[AFreeBird]

L8r

[matthew fuller]

Thanks for this info.

[dayglored]

https://www.fileformat.info/media/measurements.htm says 3.3 mm

[dayglored]

So, roughly 11.55 meters, or a bit under 35 feet.

[McGruff]

So far it’s a nothing burger. Fired up a couple of Windows 7 machines with no problems.

[dayglored]

Your Windows 7 machines will continue to work. They don’t suddenly go silent. But that doesn’t mean all is well.

The “screwed” part is mainly about the diminishing security, because as more Windows flaws are uncovered, they will only be fixed for Windows 10. The Bad Guys will know that those flaws are unfixed in Windows 7, so with a little “reverse engineering” of the Win10 security update, they will learn another way to attack Win7 machines.

Secondarily, over time, applications and accessories (Microsoft’s and third-parties’) will stop working on Win7, because updates and new releases will only work on Win10. Microsoft will go out of their way to make Win7 an orphan, by pressuring other manufacturers to make their produces incompatible with Win7. There is a long, sordid history of that happening in the last two decades, with each new Windows release.

So, in summary, enjoy it while it lasts.

[zeugma]

So, roughly 11.55 meters, or a bit under 35 feet.

Awesome. You could probably fit it all into a box about the size of a twin sized mattress.

[musicman]

BFLR

[ducttape45]

I tried eM Client in the past but when an upgrade took place they took away the easy to use menu. After that, I ditched it.