Microsoft warns Windows 7 is no longer ‘fit’ for business

Microsoft has warned customers that Windows 7 is no longer “fit” for business use. The popular operating system, which is eight years old this July, “can no longer keep up with the increased security requirements” of the mid-2010s, the company says.

After a painful three years with Windows Vista, PC users found Windows 7 to be a breath of fresh air. It was simpler and more efficient, and it didn’t attempt to force a tablet user interface down our throats like the succeeding Windows 8.

Millions of users found Windows 7 to be so reliable that they’ve refused to upgrade since. In enterprise environments in particular, the operating system is virtually ubiquitous, with a 48.34 percent share of the market — twice as much as Windows 10.

However, Microsoft is now asking business customers to finally move on. Markus Nitschke, head of Windows at Microsoft Deutschland, has said Windows 7 is no longer “fit” for enterprise use.

It is “based on long-outdated security architectures” and “does not meet the requirements of modern technology, nor the high security requirements of IT departments,” he writes on the Windows blog.

Nitschke goes on to suggest “corporate customers in particular should deal with the transition to a modern operating system in time.”

Microsoft is still supporting Windows 7 for now, but that will end in 2020 — at which point there will be no further security updates.

Article source: http://www.technobuffalo.com/2017/01/17/microsoft-warns-windows-7-is-no-longer-fit-for-business/