What Happens When Windows 7 DIES?
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2019-05-06
·
1,919 words · ~9 min read
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when Windows 10 launched in 2015 pc
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users were confronted with a dilemma microsoft had in many enthusiast eyes
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been making blunder after blunder in their efforts to turn what we all
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thought was a perfectly functional operating system into some kind of idiot
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friendly touch screen fisher-price looking nonsense
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and on top of trying to fix what a broke microsoft wanted unprecedented access to
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their users data and resolved to just
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force system updates when you're right in the middle of something and all for
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what directx 12 so many power users ended up sticking
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with Windows 7 and are still using it today
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but they have a problem if you're one of these individuals you
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now have less than one year before microsoft cuts off Windows 7.
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you may not want to risk an upgrade but as aragorn said to fiden in the great
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hall of ederas upgrading is upon you whether you would
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risk it or not wait i don't think that's quite what he said it's close enough you know what
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else is close i can almost smell it so close
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now you might not realize this but in spite of microsoft practically giving
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away Windows 10 even to those with pirated installations
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most users stuck with Windows 7 rather
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than upgrading either to 8 or 10 something that only finally changed late
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last year in december net market share reported that Windows 10 installations
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rose above Windows 7 for the first time
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and now account for nearly 41 of the user base compared to Windows 7's 37
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now hopefully that number is going to continue to go down as we get closer to
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january 14 2020 the day that Windows 7
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dies because otherwise we we're gonna have some serious problems because yes
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yes okay Windows seven it's not gonna die it's not like you just
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turn on your computer and it doesn't turn on anymore it's just going
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to stop receiving feature updates bug fixes and most importantly security
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updates which are pretty important if
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you want to i don't know continue oh say
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using the internet now as it did for previous versions of
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Windows microsoft is offering extended
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security updates or esu issue
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for Windows 7 enterprise and pro editions up until january 2023 but
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this extended update service won't come
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cheap and adding insult to injury the price will double each year so three
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years of support is going to cost 175 bucks for enterprise licenses and
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350 for Windows 7 pro
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ouchy also if you're a mega ball or pc gamer
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thinking yeah no problem 350 bucks that's like what mid-tier graphics card
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sorry i've got some bad news for you too esu is only available for volume license
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subscriptions which are usually held by companies or schools
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so businesses running Windows 7 machines on microsoft says your cloud as part of
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the Windows virtual desktop program those folks get esu for free
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but again baller gamers i would imagine that
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scenario doesn't apply to you so then if
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you're just a regular Windows 7 user with a personal license
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what can you do well before we get too deep into your
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options let's take a look at why people want to hold on to Windows 7 like that
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grudge against their brother for stealing the last piece of their birthday cake even though they told them
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that they were saving it for later and hit it away way in the back of the fridge so you wouldn't know it was there
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Windows 7 was is
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kind of fantastic it's mature stable and
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reliable and offers a great amount of control over the way it behaves its
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interface is functional familiar and extremely customizable and it's got all
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your settings just the way that you like them
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i mean furthermore i wouldn't be surprised if anyone upgrading now has a
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program or two that would either require a new not to mention costly license to
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run on Windows 10 or that isn't available for it at all
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and there's other little creature comforts typing in the search bar retrieves
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results that make sense instead of a Windows setting you weren't looking for
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or a web result from bing Windows 7 doesn't incessantly ask you to
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send more of your personal information to microsoft or decide on its own when
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it's time to update whether you like it or not
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updates are available oh uh sorry you know what i'm actually
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kind of in the middle of something kind of roger that updating now
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but as awesome as Windows 7 is there are
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quite a few cons to staying with it past the end date for extended support
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besides lacking the latest antivirus protections Windows 7 won't have Windows
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10 features like device guard UEFI secure boot and Windows hello which
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offer higher overall security for your system and while gaming performance is
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about the same some things like system boot times are slower in Windows 7
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compared to Windows 10 so it turns out microsoft software engineers weren't
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just sitting around playing beer pong for the last seven to eight years
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also if you're worried about future proofing at all which you should be at
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least a little bit Windows 7 is not a great bet as software and even hardware
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makers eventually do stop providing support for legacy operating systems
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so even if you pay for esu support only lasts for three years and costs more
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than a Windows 10 license and you might be able to upgrade for free anyway
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yup even though microsoft officially ended their offer for a free upgrade to
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Windows 10 from Windows 7 or 8 many users have reported successful fully
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activated upgrades by using microsoft's official upgrade utility and even if you
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have to pay bear with me for a moment here Windows 10 might not be as bad as
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you think there are a lot of happy users out there who appreciate its combination
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of the efficiency and customization of Windows 7 and the modern design of
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Windows 8. and despite microsoft's best efforts there is actually a fair bit
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that you can do to minimize their data collection and postpone system updates
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until absolutely necessary or at least until it's convenient so we're going to
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have some resources for you guys for this linked in the video description
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but let's say you draw the line at Windows 10. fine you say i'll stop using
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Windows 7 but hashtag never Windows 10.
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whoa i can tell you guys are serious because that hashtag there well for you
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guys there are other options first up there's Windows 8.1 i mean
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i doubt that you guys have stuck with Windows 7 for this long just to give in
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to the os that gabe newell called a catastrophe
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and its data collection and update system are kind of similar to Windows 10
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but at least it'll be getting security updates though realistically now that
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microsoft has learned from their mistake of supporting Windows xp 4 like ever
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that'll probably only buy you a couple of years
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so uh maybe that's not a great option so then what how about oh macOS
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while apple's desktop os has come a long
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way and is obviously used by many tech enthusiasts
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the thing is i don't see many Windows 7 die hards willingly defecting to apple's
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camp plus you would need to either buy a
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totally new computer or begin the long
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arduous process of trying to turn your existing pc into a hackintosh
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now it might be doable but even most hackintosh enthusiasts are pretty open
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about what a finicky experience that is
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leaving Linux
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now a couple of years ago i would have said that that's madness
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but Linux is a more viable option than
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ever before even for gamers
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now we're planning another follow-up video on valve's proton compatibility
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software but for now the main thing you need to know about it is that it makes
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an ever growing list of Windows games run
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flawlessly on Linux and community
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reports indicate that thousands more run pretty well
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as for the non-gamers popular Linux distros like ubuntu work great for
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productivity focused use especially if the majority of your work is done on the
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web and there are even distros that borrow heavily from Windows for their
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interface like Linux mint so your home sickness will at least be suited a
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little and then of course there's the last option stick with Windows 7. hold fast
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as your destruction edge is ever closer say goodbye to hardware or software
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upgrades and just well just don't browse the internet
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after january 14th 2020.
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with regards to that option i mean you know what god speed you brave bastard but needless
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we're going to have that linked below so thanks for watching guys if you just
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like this video you can hit that button i'm sorry it's really bad news i get it
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but if you liked it hit like get subscribed or maybe consider checking out where to buy the stuff we featured
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Windows 10 i guess at the link in the video description also down there is our
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merch store which has cool shirts like this one and our community forum which
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you should totally join we should have where you can uh buy an ubuntu cd
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canonical will ship you one if you pay like a couple bucks i think you can
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yeah but and don't pay for Linux either like it's free
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that's kind of the point