Microsoft has always maintained that Windows 10 is a service and has encouraged PC users to use its latest operating system (OS). The company demonstrated their resolve to have everyone on Windows 10 by the one-year free upgrade program when they first launched the OS.
However, despite Microsoft best effort, a good number of PC owners are still running earlier versions of Windows. Windows 7 commanding about 40% of the computers across the globe. In a new blog post titled ‘Helping customers shift to a modern desktop,’ the company is warning Windows 7 users to upgrade to Windows 10 or start paying a monthly fee from January 14, 2020, if they want to continue using that OS.
In a nutshell, Microsoft will end support for Windows 7 in January 14th, 2020. And any user who want to continue using the OS post that date will have to pay Microsoft for continued support. Microsoft further adds that the monthly fee will be on a monthly incremental basis.
So it does look like Microsoft wants to make sure that it will be very costly to continue using the aging Windows 7. All the while, encouraging users to jump onto the latest OS; a move that will see Microsoft face less trouble, such as the ones faced by Google with its fragmented market for Android mobile OS market.
“…today we are announcing that we will offer paid Windows 7 Extended Security Updates (ESU) through January 2023. The Windows 7 ESU will be sold on a per-device basis, and the price will increase each year,” wrote Jared Spataro, the Corporate VP for Office and Windows Marketing at Microsoft who also authored the said blog post.
Spataro did not reveal the price, but the announcement nonetheless will be taken as a good thing by some. Since Microsoft could merely just cut support for Windows 7 that day and never have to bother itself again. If they give users the option of continued paid-support, it means users who can’t switch to a new OS will not have to safer from gaping security holes. That could overtime, open a huge security hole that hackers could fly the Airbus right through and seriously compromise users’ digital security.
