Windows 7 End of Life

We’ve known that it has been coming for a long time now.  Now that we’re less than a year away it’s getting real folks.  Windows 7 which has served us so well for so long will be going the way of the dodo.  Official end of life date with Microsoft is Jan 14th, 2020.  End of life means that Microsoft will no longer support windows 7.  More importantly it means that there will be no more security patches for it.

Change is hard

We get it.  When you find something you love and you’re used to its hard to make a change.  A lot of us felt that way back in 2014 when Microsoft did an end of life for our beloved XP.  What we can tell you is that it is inevitable, and necessary.  With the evolving security threats all around us its more important than ever to be working on a supported operating system that is has people actively working on patching those vulnerabilities.  Change isn’t easy, but if you want to keep your data safe now is the time to make a plan. When XP went end of life in 2014 it represented about 40% of a billion computers world wide.  We got through that change, and we’ll get through this one too.

Slow to Adopt

There are a lot of reasons why businesses may be slow to adopt a new OS.  Part of it can be the expense and labor involved in moving to a new operating system.  Sometimes there are compatibility problems that prohibit them based on legacy software.  Sometimes older hardware won’t support the new OS.  Training on the new system takes time and energy.  All of these factors can contribute to businesses being slow to make the move.  Unfortunately if you want to keep your network secure, you don’t have a choice.

How can we get ready?

Change is always easier when we have a solid plan in place.  Businesses can do a handful of things now that will make this a smoother transition over the next year.

• Identify the machines that need to be replaced. (i.t.NOW provides all of it’s clients with a complete inventory quarterly)
• Look for incompatible systems and make plans to upgrade them.  Maybe a legacy application, or other software that won’t function with Windows 10.
• Develop a timeline and a budget for upgrades and replacements.  With a year left we still have time to plan this out and make it easy.
• Plan employee training where needed.

Fail to Plan = Plan to Fail

Take the time now to plan out your transition from Windows 7, and it will offer you benefits in the future.  Your friendly account managers at i.t.NOW are here to assist, and can formulate a plan to make sure the change is smooth and easy for your business.  Call us today with questions or to see how we can help.