What’s true in life is also generally true in software: All good things must come to an end. And for Windows 7, that end is nearly in sight.

Why Windows 7 is a big deal

Consumers are used to updating their hardware to the newest, latest and greatest — especially when it comes to upgrading to the shiniest mobile models on the market. And because of the user experiences on our phones, many of the app upgrades, security patches and system upgrades happen automatically (or near enough as for us not to notice).

When it comes to our desktop machines, we can be a little less diligent when tracking software upgrades, especially at the system level.

Windows 7 was and is a workhorse OS. Following the disastrous rollout and implementation of Windows Vista, Microsoft recognized it needed an upgrade and a hit, fast. Windows 7 was all that and more.

Windows 7 was “generally praised by critics, who considered the operating system to be a major improvement over its predecessor due to its increased performance, its more intuitive interface (with particular praise devoted to the new taskbar), fewer User Account Control popups, and other improvements made across the platform.”

But that’s not all — while Windows 10 has grown to 53% of desktop Windows market share by January of 2019, Windows 7 still maintains a greater than 30% version market share of Windows’ desktops. Not bad for a product released almost a decade ago!

But, this can be very bad for Microsoft and for you (if you’re still running Windows 7, that is), because Microsoft is discontinuing security patches or support for PCs running 7 on January 14, 2020.

Why Windows 7 reaching its end of life matters so much

Software phases out all the time; it’s a natural part of the development life cycle. But it’s relatively rare for a platform as widespread and integral as Windows 7 to wind down its life with so many users still clinging to it. That’s bad for Microsoft, because they still have to develope everything twice — once for 7 and once for 10, making sure both versions are protected, stable and running optimally at every upgrade or patch release.

When Microsoft stops supporting Windows 7, that means every computer still running it becomes more vulnerable by the day.No more security patches, no more system upgrades, no more debugging… Every virus or malware scheme will no longer have to contend with Microsoft’s security apparatus — users will be on their own to fend for themselves.

Not a great look for the home team. And it’s especially not a great look for your business if you’re opening it up to hosts of vulnerabilities simply because you haven’t (or won’t) upgraded to Windows 10.

So what to do?

We get it — it’s not always easy staying on top of every OS upgrade, anti-virus upgrade, software upgrade, and security patching every day and every week. When you’re operating at an enterprise scale, it becomes that much harder still. But, that’s where someone like us comes in. Leverage Technologies can help you manage your technology stack to ensure all your systems — hardware, software and everything in between — remain safe, secure, and backed up at all times. Offloading your technology concerns to a managed service provider like Leverage allows you to free up mental capital to worry about growing your business, while we worry about having your back. Give us a call to see what we can do for you!