Why You Shouldn't Be Using Windows 7
As of July 2020, Microsoft Windows 7 still controls around 20% of total desktop operating systems worldwide.
A couple of reasons why you don’t want to still be using Microsoft Windows 7:
It’s no longer receiving security updates as Microsoft ended mainstream support for the product in January 2020. That means its existing vulnerabilities are forever; aggressors will be able to exploit those problems forever.
Consequently, the US FBI issued a warning on August 3, 2020 about continuing to use the legacy operating system, as has the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre has directly warned users not to use Windows 7 for commercial activities like email or banking.
If the appeal-to-authority doesn’t work for you, how about money? IBM recently reported that the average cost of a data breach in the United States is $3.86 million.
And, yeah, cyber security insurance. You think you’re covered. It’s not like your cyber security policy is going to cover you if you’re running a known-bad o/s. That’s just raw negligence, kids.
Now, you have options.
Like Mac’s? After January 2021, Apple will be transitioning to ARM microprocessors. Lots of techie stuff here but the bottom line is that Macs are soon going to get hundreds of dollars cheaper. Cool! Upgrades!
But if don’t have a cool $1k to drop on a new machine, and if you’re married to the Google Cloud Ecosystem, there’s never been a better time to update to a Chromebook or a Chromebox. There’s a lot of great boxes out there, some priced at a 1/3rd of the cost of a comparable Microsoft Windows 10 computer. They boot in eight seconds, they’re encrypted, they receive automatic updates that don’t break them, they are significantly more secure than Windows will ever be … why not?
Okay, so maybe Google ain’t your thing. If you have an older machine still running Windows 7, and you’re comfortable with the machine’s overall performance and still want to use it, and you’re mostly using a web browser to access online services, consider installing Linux. I’d recommend Ubuntu or its cousin, Zorin. They’re more secure than Windows, won’t break your system, and will make the older machines run like they were new.
If you’re still using Microsoft Word and Excel? Are you dependent on some 3rd party application that has to run on Windows? You could upgrade your Windows 7 machine to Windows 10, sure, it’s only a $100. That’s a lot cheaper than $3.86 million. But watch the performance hit. You’d probably be better off just replacing the asset.
Here’s the thing: continuing to use an obsolete product is only making you more vulnerable, and, more of a target to aggressors who look at you and your data as an easy target. There’s no reason why you’d rationally want to be an easier target for hackers. Take action today to replace that old machine. Do something!
R
