Microsoft Soon To Nag Windows 7 Users On Why They Should Upgrade Its Decade Old OS
If you're still hanging on to the Windows 7 operating system on your rig, Microsoft wants you to abandon ship and upgrade to Windows 10 as soon as possible. Windows 7 was first released on July 22nd 2009, which was nearly a decade ago. The operating system proved very popular following the disappointment of Windows Vista, and was quickly adopted by both consumers and businesses.
That popularity has been a double-edged sword for Microsoft. The performance, stability, and overall ubiquity of Windows 7 has led many to simply stick with the OS over upgrading to the [long forgotten] Windows 8/8.1 operating system and even the current Windows 10. But with support for Windows 7 coming to an end on January 14th, 2020, Microsoft wants to give these stragglers some additional prodding to upgrade to Windows 10.
Microsoft says that it will soon begin sending notifications to Windows 7 users [non-commercial customers only] as a "courtesy reminder" to upgrade to Windows 10. The company says that by sending the notifications starting this year, it will give everyday users and businesses plenty of time to plot their upgrade strategy ahead of the July 2020 termination date for support.
According to Microsoft, users will only see these notifications a handful of times during 2019. Although the company doesn't make this clear, it's quite likely that the notification prompts will step up in frequency next year. However, if you are simply content with Windows 7 and don't care about the lack of product and security updates, you can choose to select the option "do not notify me again" to rid yourself of the nagging.
Microsoft also warns that Office 2010 support will end not long after Windows 7, so it is encouraging users to make the switch to Office 365. “But, there’s good news – Windows 10 is the most secure Windows ever and Office 365 delivers the latest in personal productivity,” writes Microsoft. “Together they make a perfect pair to help you do everything you were doing before – safer, faster and easier.”
Notice that the company is pushing Office 365 and not Office 2019, which would likely be the more appropriate upgrade (and more befitting of the type of customer that would still be clinging to Windows 7 and Office 2010). But we have to realize that Office 365 is a big revenue generator for Microsoft thanks to its subscription model, while Office 2019 is a one-and-done endeavor, which it seems to show absolutely no love for.
Are any of you HotHardware readers out there still using Windows 7 on one or more PC? If so, tell us why in the comments section below.
