Windows 7 Will Get Updates for Four More Years -- If You Pay (zdnet.com)

An anonymous reader quotes ZDNet: With the Windows 7 end-of-support clock slowly winding down to January 14, 2020, Microsoft is announcing it will offer, for a fee, continuing security updates for the product through January 2023. This isn't the first time Microsoft has done this for a version of Windows, but it may be the first time it has been so public about its plans to do so.

The paid Windows 7 Extended Security Updates (ESUs) will be sold on a per-device basis, with the price increasing each year. These ESUs will be available to any Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Enterprise users with volume-licensing agreements, and those with Windows Software Assurance and/or Windows 10 Enterprise or Education subscriptions will get a discount. Office 365 ProPlus will continue to work on devices with Windows 7 Extended Security Updates through January 2023.

Comments

Re:Why are people not upgrading?

[Harlequin80]

Because you have some crappy bit of unsupported proprietary software that doesn't run on windows 10 and will cost a bucket load to replace.

Re:Why are people not upgrading?

[Anonymous Coward]

because they don't want to give up control of THEIR hardware or the software they've PAID FOR

because they don't want to be 'the product' forced to view advertisements, have sponsored apps shoved up their asses, or be spied on BY A FUCKING OPERATING SYSTEM, or have that same operating system download updates willy-nilly, which OFTEN IRREPARABLY BREAKS THE SYSTEM or uses up precious data quotas resulting in overage charges.

an operating system should, i dunno, OPERATE THE SYSTEM.. and JUST THAT.. i know, what a novel and retro concept... nothing else; not be a damn revenue stream and avenue for spying.

Re:Microsoft needs to stop messing about

[StormReaver]

I wasted SIX HOURS updating a laptop yesterday.

And yet, you're still using Windows. At this point, Microsoft knows that they own you and your laptop. Why should they care what you want when they know you will keep paying and promoting them regardless of what they do to you?

Re:Why are people not upgrading?

[valnar]

Not even close the reason. Because Windows 7 is better.

Re:Why are people not upgrading?

[Anonymous Coward]

My community does CPU-intensive work and we want control of OUR computers. We understand the need for antivirus/spyware software and are willing to use it. We don't want our OS to treat us like idiots and BE the spyware... We want to give explicit permission for the OS to phone home...

Then why didn't you build your production environment on Linux?

Re: STILL not using Linux?

[nehumanuscrede]

"The fact that people continue to use Microsoft products is mind-boggling."

Not nearly as mind-boggling as the folks who can't seem to grasp the fact that not all professional software runs on Linux or Mac OS.

Talking about software that costs more than the hardware it runs upon. Yanno, stuff you can't easily replace because it's cost prohibitive.

Thus, the reason folks continue to use what they use and will continue to do so until ALL of their daily use software applications have a native Linux or Mac OS choice.

It's really not that difficult.

So ordinary users will have to pirate them?

[gweihir]

That is a sad state of affairs. After all, security updates fix defects in their product. It is not as if they are improving anything, it is that they fix the mess they created. To ask for money for that is unacceptable, and to exclude ordinary users is even more unacceptable.

Re: Why are people not upgrading?

[Billly Gates]

Well USB and built in firewall for one :-)

Old geeks remember only the good times of the good old days. Not NT4 required a ps2 to USB adapter and Windows 2000 required a reboot when you unplug a mouse as it's not plug n play or that your system was 0wned without blackice firewall software etc.

XP was a security nightmare too!

Windows 7 was gorgeous and had improved security and was light enough to run on an atom.