With the arrival of the end of Microsoft’s support for their Windows 7 operating system today, users still working with it now have a clear, on-screen notification.
Some quick answers to the most frequently asked questions;
Will my W7 PC stop working from today?
No. The PC will continue to boot and function.
Can VCI still support my W7 PC?
Yes. We can still provide support for IT queries in the normal way.
Can I upgrade my existing PC for free?
No. I was quite alarmed to read two separate National Press articles over the Christmas break describing how you can upgrade to Windows 10 for free. There is no legal means of doing this.
Is it worth paying to upgrade my current PC?
It depends on the specification of the PC you have. The value of the average desktop or laptop still running W7 makes the software licence and time cost prohibitive. A very high end unit such as a CAD machine may have enough value and suitably high replacement cost as to make the upgrade worth investigating.
Is it safe to keep using my Windows 7?
Today probably, tomorrow possibly…beyond, the risk is likely to increase.
This final question is really the one to note. What the end of support really means is that there will be no more security updates for vulnerabilities which are discovered. When support for XP ended some years back there seemed to be a determined effort by the criminal fraternity to discover and exploit weaknesses within the first few weeks.
In an article published by The Telegraph a spokesperson for the National Cyber Security Centre advised,
“We would urge those using the software after the deadline to replace unsupported devices as soon as possible, to move sensitive data to a supported device and not to use them for tasks like accessing bank and other sensitive accounts. They should also consider accessing email from a different device.”
If you do still have Windows 7 devices in active service, contact us and we can help you with the most cost efficient route to address this.
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