Word had recently slipped that while Windows 7 is still getting the firm boot, there is yet another extended support option. in which you pony up cash to keep it going. This may not extend to the consumer versions, as the fine print implies.

Opinion: Why bother at this point? By the time the support fee comes into play, the OS will be 11 years old by that point. Users have already been given excess time to consider other options, and driver support will be rapidly drying up for the system. Already, several CPUs are are outright incompatible.

So it's been 11 years since Microsoft produced an OS that didn't suck? How times fly.

Can't wait to see Windows 7 users in 2025 using arcane hacks to fool CPUs into becoming Windows 7-compatible.

Microsoft can go fuck themselves after all shit they keep pulling to force you to abandon older OS'es. first auto downloaded W10 without saying, then force it in on the hardware you buy and the list goes on endlessly and now finally this.

I long for the day when i can go over to my Linux machine permanently without having so many developers ignoring it or using Steam.

There are such patches in existance already.

That depends on the user. There are a lot of applications where platform stability is priority over everything. On the hardware side, "CSM" (Corporate Stable Model) versions of motherboards do exist that continue to be made 3-5 years after everything else. Eg, whereas B150/H170/Z170 motherboards are already end of line (and B250/H270/Z270 to follow next year followed by Z370 when Z390 comes out), it's still possible to buy H110 boards and even H81 (Haswell) boards for simple replacements that don't screw up an enterprise's unified deployment model.

On the software side, you have applications such as medical equipment, ATM's, security & defense computers, critical infrastructure (power stations, etc), which only upgrade to a new OS on a delayed cycle after that new OS has proven mature. All versions of W10 except for Enterprise LTSB have failed miserably at stability due to MS's constant messing about with forced bi-annual feature updates that consistently break more than they enhance even for those with brand new hardware. "But the software is +5 years old" is simply another way of saying "stable platform". The OS on my microwave, cooker, refrigerator, washing machine, MP3 player, DVD player, thermostat, radio, printer, etc, are also +5 years old too. But if the user's needs are static and don't require hardware changes, that's perfectly normal. It's artificial obsolescence that comes from "Software As A Service" that's the fake "upgrade".

As for consumers, if W10 Enterprise 2016 LTSB were the main consumer branch by default, "feature" updates were optional not compulsory and they dialled way back on the spyware (inc Cortana), telemetry and "Windows Store In Your Face", then many of us W7 holdouts would have switched already. As usual though, Microsoft fails to understand everyone else's needs except their own. Personally I find W10 so unpredictable and unstable from one year to the next that if all existing games ran under Linux, hassle free, and with no performance penalty, I'd have switched to that and ditched Windows already. We already made the MS Office to LibreOffice jump 2 years ago without regretting a single day.

I expect 128 bit CPUs just to spite them. On the other hand, why should anything with security in mind (ATMs, defense computers, and medical equipment) be running Windows in the first place? As for the MP3 player, there's a good chance there's a replacement for that.

As for why a glorified cooling box or washing canister need an operating system, that's a mystery for the ages.

Funny as it sounds, I can see myself sticking with Windows 7 for another decade. I'm definitely not averse to using whatever voodoo is necessary to keep this zombie going.

As for today Windows 7 is still a perfectly viable system (probaly the best microsoft ever made) and will continue to be one even a couple of years after it's EOL . Security isn't that much of an issue if you keep your browser up to date, don't install software from untrusted sources and have a backup ready just in case.

There will come a day however when you'll either need new hardware or that piece of software you want to use doesn't support W7 anymore so I suggest to plan ahead for this day.
I'm in the process of mitigating my machines to Linux as i don't see Windows 10 as a remotely viable option. I will still keep keep a W7 installation around for the transition time.

I totally agree with you.
But Windows does appear in many commercial devices that are supposed to be secure.
It is always fun to see the BSOD on them.

What's the point? I have my machine as win 10 for most tasks. A second box has a hot swap bay with ssd's with win10 old version install, one with win 7, and one with Linux. I can swap these as I want, but only get updated if I ever want to. Wouldn't want to connect them to the net and have the endless m$ updates. Seems like a way to make further cash for nothing to me.

Obviously, these solutions are mostly for enterprise customers, not regular users. There's nothing strange or out of the ordinary here...

Windows 7 doesn't force-feed you updates on its own schedule, for one thing. And not small updates either, it makes you download several GB for some extra ''functionality'' you may not ever use. Complete disregard for bandwidth, data caps and user control over their own damn system.

I heard something about this on the radio just a couple weeks back. The story was that it's cheaper these days for manufacturers to simply buy an off-the-shelf chip that has the control / logic features they need for their product instead of designing their own control chips in-house, and that those chips tend to come with a bunch of other stuff, too. So then they figure, "Hey - let's put internet access on the refrigerator! Because the capability is in this chip!" And now someone can potentially hack into your IOT refrigerator and turn the temperature up so your food goes bad. Or run a bot net. Or whatever other nefarious crap they can think of.

Windows 10 in a nut shell. I use it but am not a fan of the direction Microsoft are going. I've said it before and i'll say it again I feel like a guest on my own machine, as unlike older versions you cant really customize 10.

It definatly disregards user settings though, as I installed it for a client who has never needed more than 2GB metered connection. 10 depsite saying its metered, disabling Windows Update etc still used more than 2GB when he had it, we rolled him back to 7 and it was fine.

I could go on about my dislike for 10. But i'll not.