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Another reprieve for Windows 10

I love being right.

At one point, Microsoft claimed that Windows 10 would be the “last” Windows version, and they would update it indefinitely with patch releases to fix security and add features. You’d never again have to go through the hassle of upgrading to a new Windows version.

Then, in October 2021, they introduced Windows 11.

Not only was it a new version with a lot of interface changes, but it also had new hardware requirements. You would not be allowed to install it on a PC that did not support TPM 2.0.

As the linked article explains, TPM stands for Trusted Platform Module. It’s a chip on the motherboard that helps protect your processor from hacking attempts. It’s actually a good thing to have. Unfortunately, motherboard manufacturers didn’t start providing this module on consumer hardware until about ten years ago, and it’s not something you can just install in an older system. So if you have a computer built before 2016, you don’t have this feature and therefore can’t run Windows 11.

Microsoft’s answer? “Just replace your old computer!”

Sure. Simple, right? It’s like buying a new toaster. Just bring it home and plug it in. If only.

I built my own desktop in 2013. It’s running Windows 10 and still has life left in it. But if I want Windows 11, I have to replace it. And I have clients with PCs nearly as old and still reliably adequate for their needs. Migrating to new hardware is a disruptive process and takes many hours. And starting over with a fresh install of all your applications and data takes even longer.

There was hope for a while that Microsoft would relent and make the TPM support optional for Windows 11, allowing these older systems to be grandfathered in. Instead, Microsoft doubled down and announced Windows 10 would become end of life on October 14, 2025, and they would no longer provide security updates. They assumed this would nudge us holdouts to hurry and make the transition.

Obviously adoption of Windows 11 was not as widespread as they anticipated, so with less than a month to go before the announced Windows 10 artificial death, they announced an ESU program (Extended Security Updates) that would enable Win10 systems to receive security fixes for an additional year, until October 13, 2026.

With this reprieve, we at least had a bit of breathing room to make plans for the migration. I started buying new hardware for my own desktop as well as clients that had older systems I’d built for them. But as we got closer to October 2026, the stats showed that a quarter of Windows systems were still running Windows 10 and older versions. With over 1.4 billion active Windows installs, that means there are still hundreds of thousands of Win10 systems out there.

Although I couldn’t be certain, I predicted that Microsoft would back down again and extend the ESU program for an additional year. Well, they did.

So now Windows 10 will continue to receive security patches until October 12, 2027. So we caught another break. Just make sure you’re enrolled in ESU so that you receive security updates as they’re released.

Are you missing out by staying on Windows 10? I don’t think so. I use Windows 11 at work but there’s nothing compelling about it to make anyone want to upgrade. That’s why Microsoft has to force it down our throats. It’s obviously a more desirable version for them than for you. I’ll let you speculate as to why that may be.

Now what?

The big day has come. Microsoft’s end of support for Windows 7 is now official. Does that mean those of us still using Windows 7 should panic, like our droid friend C-3PO?

No. He’s a drama queen. Ignore him.

It became clear over the last year that Microsoft was not going to grant us a reprieve. Windows 10 is their strategy going forward and they are going to drag us along whether we like it or not. Eventually, we are all going to have to bite the bullet and make the move to Windows 10 if we want to continue to live in the Microsoft world. But that doesn’t mean it has to be today, or this week, or even this quarter.

Although the “out of support” screen shown above is clearly an attempt to scare us into action, it turns out that the deadline isn’t as firm as Microsoft would have you believe. Your computer is not about to explode. It won’t even stop working for the time being.

As of yesterday, Microsoft will no longer release bug fixes or security updates for Windows 7. However, Win7 is a mature and stable product and hasn’t had any significant new features or functionality in years.

Lack of security updates is a bigger concern. This means that, as new vulnerabilities are discovered, Microsoft won’t patch them. As of right now the product is secure, but that will most likely change. However, Microsoft is still supporting its antivirus product, Security Essentials, and it will continue to receive updates. Norton is continuing to provide Windows 7 support for its antivirus products. So there is still protection even without Windows updates.

For web browsing, Google has promised to support its Chrome browser on Windows 7 until July 2021. Microsoft’s Edge browser (built using the same base engine as Chrome) was made available for Windows 7 and Microsoft is planning to support it as long as Chrome. Mozilla (maker of Firefox) currently has no plans to drop Windows 7 support either. Internet Explorer is unsafe and has been for a long time, and if you are still using it, stop.

Yes, at some point you will have to make the move. Microsoft would prefer that you buy a new computer running Windows 10 and migrate to it, but it takes quite a bit of time and effort (I’m in the process of doing that with my work laptop right now, trying to squeeze the migration in during breaks in my work day, and it’s taking forever).

If your Windows 7 system is complex, with lots of installed programs (requiring tweaking and configuring) and a complicated network setup, installing Windows 10 on top of 7 is probably the best option, assuming your hardware meets the requirements. Anything less than 7-8 years old will probably be fine, but a hardware compatibility check is part of the upgrade process. I am still working through the steps to get comfortable with the procedure. My primary desktop at home (the guts of which are now 7 years old) would be a nightmare to rebuild from scratch and this will be my upgrade guinea pig (I have excellent backup/restore capabilities).

You might think I’m making too big a deal about it. Just install the Windows 10 upgrade and move on, right?

Um, no. Windows 10 is different. If you are used to all your icons being where you want them and acting like that always have, you are going to go through a major period of adjustment and annoyance. For example…

The Windows 10 Start menu is…okay, listen. I hate the Windows 10 Start menu. Despite being heavily customizable, in its default state it seems to have been deliberately designed to prevent you from finding anything. The left-hand column, which you’d expect to contain all your installed apps, doesn’t actually show all of them. I keep having to click the Search icon and start typing the name of the program I want. Kind of defeats the purpose of a Start menu. So far, it seems the only way to make the menu usable is to pin your most-used options (those boxes on the right side). Maybe this is just my learning curve, but I usually pick this stuff up pretty quickly and I’m struggling. The menu customization options seem to consist of checkboxes to turn off features you don’t want, like “Suggested apps.” I DON’T NEED YOU TO SUGGEST APPS JUST SHOW ME WHAT I’VE GOT.

Fortunately you can still populate your desktop with icons, and the taskbar at the bottom of the screen works much the same way as Windows 7. Again, it’s just a matter of taking the time to learn the new twists and get used to them. It’s no big deal if you use your PC for fun or as a hobby, but when the machine is your life (like mine), you don’t have the time to futz around acclimating yourself.

I subscribed to the website of tech guru and Microsoft expert Paul Thurrott and downloaded his Windows 10 Field Guide, hoping to get a quick jump start. It’s 500 pages long. Comprehensive, yes, but I’m trying to do this in my spare time.

The upshot here is that I’m asking you to be patient with me if you plan to have me help you make the transition. I’m not where I want to be yet but I’m working hard to get there. I want to assure you that, as of now, you’re not in danger using Windows 7, but everyone has to make their own risk assessment, particularly if your computer is your livelihood.

Free Windows 10 upgrade ending soon – should you care?

Windows 10 was released on July 29, 2015. To encourage its adoption, Microsoft announced that it would be available as a free upgrade for users of Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 for a period of one year. The expiration date is coming up very soon, after which Windows 10 will sell for $119. So taking advantage of that offer is a no-brainer, right?

Well, maybe.

Nag nag nag

Microsoft hasn’t exactly been doing the soft sell here. To communicate the upgrade offer to all eligible users, Microsoft pushed out a “Get Windows 10” pop-up nag screen through Windows Update. Those of us who wanted to postpone or bypass the upgrade (or just stop the nagging) figured out how to remove the update that installed it. Then Microsoft pushed it out again. Then we hid the update. Microsoft un-hid it.

The battle escalated until Microsoft changed the upgrade prompt to actually install Windows 10 even if you tried to stop it. Users were so outraged that many started disabling Windows updates altogether. Microsoft then dialed it back a little, making the upgrade prompt clearer and more controllable.

At any rate, it’s obvious that Microsoft really really wants you to upgrade to Windows 10.

We know what’s best for you

Frankly, I just don’t trust Microsoft much these days. It goes back to the launch of Windows 8 in 2012, at which point Microsoft arrogantly decided that we were all going to use the tablet-friendly “Modern” user interface instead of the traditional Windows desktop, whether we liked it or not. Never mind that Modern was designed for touch screens and was a royal pain to use with a keyboard and mouse.

The backlash from Microsoft’s business customers was swift and justifiably brutal. Microsoft might be able to push home users around, but enterprise administrators responsible for deploying hundreds or thousands of desktops were having none of it. The president of Microsoft’s Windows division, Steven Sinofsky, was shown the door, and Microsoft was forced to atone for its sins by releasing Windows 8.1, which at least gave us the option of defaulting to the Windows 7-style Start menu that we were all used to.

Windows 10 (if you’re wondering why they skipped Windows 9, we don’t really know), from a user standpoint, promised enhanced security and stability, and it would be able to determine whether it was running on a tablet or desktop and adapt accordingly, using the optimal interface for each device. But the most significant enhancement was behind the scenes – Microsoft would be able to unify its code base across all supported platforms – PCs, Surface tablets, the Xbox, and even Windows Phone. Once implemented, this could save the company tremendously on development expenses.

Further, Windows 10 is likely to be the last major new release of Windows. Once Win 10 is installed, Microsoft can transition its software model to a cloud-based service, seamlessly pushing fixes and new features through automatic updates indefinitely. (The question is whether Microsoft will be transparent about this process, or leave users in the dark about what is being changed and when. Based on how they handled the “Get Windows 10” process, I have concerns.)

In summary, Windows 10 benefits Microsoft far more than it does you. That’s why they are so darned eager to get you to upgrade.

Do I have a choice?

So, should you upgrade, assuming you haven’t already (willingly or otherwise)?

If you are currently running Windows 8 or 8.1, I say go for it. Your PC is already screwed up and can only improve with Windows 10. But see the caveats below.

If you have Windows 7, I vote no. While Microsoft ended “mainstream support” for Win 7 in January 2015, you will still receive security updates until January 2020. You will almost certainly get a new computer within the next three years, and you can make a nice leisurely transition to Windows 10 at that time.

And if you plan to keep your current Windows version and want to stop the nagging, technical guru Steve Gibson has provided a nifty little utility program called Never10. Download and run it. It will make the registry changes necessary to disable the nag screen, and even delete the Windows 10 upgrade files if they’ve already been downloaded. You can keep the program and run it later to reverse the changes if you change your mind, especially on the off chance that Microsoft decides to extend the free upgrade period past July 29.

Leap of faith

Now, if you decide to make the jump, under no circumstances should you choose the “express settings” option for Windows 10. The default privacy settings for Windows 10 are, quite frankly, a sick joke. Microsoft is taking its cues from Apple and Google and looking to get its hands on as much of your data as possible. I can’t do a better job of covering this issue than David Auerbach does in this Slate article, which I strongly recommend you read through before upgrading. Auerbach recommends skipping the process of creating a Microsoft account, which opens the door to all sorts of data collection and the ill-advised “feature” called Wi-Fi Sense, which shares your home wi-fi password with all of your contacts so they can connect automatically to your network when they visit (or park in your driveway). Perhaps you see this as a convenience. I see it as a loss of control and it scares me. (If you already have Windows 10 installed, refer to this article to check your wi-fi sharing settings and modify them.)

Happy anniversary

Shortly after the free upgrade offer ends, Microsoft will push out an “anniversary update” with some enhancements and new features, most of which seem to involve Cortana, the voice-controlled virtual assistant that is Microsoft’s answer to Apple’s Siri. At the same time, they will double the number of “promoted apps” (i.e., ads) that appear on the Start menu. It makes you wonder what other sorts of “promotions” Microsoft is planning down the road, which they can stuff into your Windows installation at any time, and without notice. Welcome to Windows 10.