Microsoft Pulling the Plug on Windows 7
Microsoft has just announced plans to stop supporting Windows 7 as of January 14, 2020. Cutting “support” in this case is used in the meaning that Microsoft will no longer release updates or patches for this version of Windows. What this means to long time admirers and users of Windows 7, this means that the security of their computers will no longer be supervised by Microsoft and performance enhancements and bug fixes will no longer be developed. This could be considered an issue as “ more than one-third of PCs use Windows 7” according to a CNN business article written on the topic. The fact that so many people use an operating system so old shows just how influential and effective it seems in the eyes of PC users. The fame and use of Windows 7 in particular is puzzling, as Windows 8 which was a higher version of the aforementioned version, lost support way before its predecessor. The greatness of Windows 7 aside however, there are still many people who run their computers on this OS, and losing support could have negative impacts on them. The fact that performance updates, bug fixes, and security patches will no longer be created for Windows 7, greatly detriments these users who depend on Windows 7 to run their computers. As, the system’s weaknesses will slowly be revealed and will start to get used by hackers or malware online as easy targets to attack, and due to the lack of optimization and bugs that arise users will have a harder time using these computers. A solution Microsoft offers for this issue is for users to upgrade to Windows 10 if their computer is as young as three years, or to buy a whole new computer that comes with Windows 10 if their computer is older, backing up any important data that exists in their old computers. While this is a possible solution, an issue with it is that there might exist some people who managed to buy computers in the past but cannot afford to do so now, and some people who simply might not want to spend 120 euros (the cost of Windows 10) on a newer version of a software they previously bought. Despite this, the decision from Microsoft is not completely pointless, as it is impossible for them to constantly develop new patches and updates for their past models. Just as they have cut support for Windows XP and Windows 8 in the past, they must let go of Windows 7 to focus only on Windows 10. This is because no matter how much a version of something is liked, it eventually falls behind in the technology that was used to create it and unless completely altered through modifications cannot compete with software created with new technology and more developed tools. Hence, the only way for Microsoft to move ahead is to give up on their previous projects to focus on their new ones. No company can constantly support every product they have made forever, as the funding and workload within that company must be focused on new projects in order to create growth. This is the reason that not only Microsoft but many companies, stop supporting their past products. Another example to this can be found in Apple cutting software updates for the past versions of their iPhones. Still the fact that Microsoft must move on does not mean that their way of handling this situation is the best path to take. An option Microsoft could take that would lessen the reaction from Windows 7 users is giving versions of Windows 10 for free or with some amount of discount in exchange for Windows 7 licenses. While this would not necessarily be a complete solution to the many people who own Windows 7, it could serve as a compromise between users and developers. In the end, this decision to cut support made by Microsoft is one that will eventually happen at some point if not now, and due to how much Windows 7 is liked, it is likely that there will always be some problems in applying this decision. Due to this there is no issue with a decision like this being made however, it would still be possible to give some sort of advantage to previous users of Windows in order to reduce outcry.
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