Windows 7 was originally released in October of 2009. It was a very popular version of the Windows operating system. Many users would like it to live on forever. Windows 7 “End Of Life” is coming. Mainstream support for the Windows 7 operating system ended in January of 2015. Do not worry because Microsoft has said that they will continue to provide security updates through January 14th, 2020. That is only six months away. With only six months to go you should be taking inventory of your computers and planning for replacement. Newer versions of the Windows operating systems are more secure and support additional features that are not included with Windows 7. You should not be running any computers on Windows 7 after January of 2020. To do so would greatly increase your security vulnerability risk.

It takes several years for most companies to migrate completely off from a specific version of an operating system. Your specialized software program needs to support the new version. Computer workstations have a useful life of five years. Some people try to keep them for up to seven years. You should be purchasing all new computers with Windows 10 installed. Check and see how old your computers running Windows 7 are and plan for their replacement.

Also at end-of-life are Windows Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2008. These servers should be upgraded or replaced.

Windows Lifecycle Fact Sheet
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13853/windows-lifecycle-fact-sheet

If we manage your computers, request a list of your computer assets and we can assist you with phasing these older systems out of your business. Our service engineers will likely be very busy migrating systems as we approach the end of the year. Do not wait until the last months to begin your migration.