Microsoft Will Keep Supporting Windows 7. If We Pay for it.

Windows 7 is undoubtedly one of the most popular operating systems in history – according to analytics company StatCounter, after nearly ten years from its launch, it’s still being used on 35% of computers equipped with Microsoft's OS, and the number is dropping very slowly. It's no surprising, that with the end of technical support, scheduled by the manufacturer for January 14, 2020, many users of this system will be put against the wall.

This situation mainly concerns numerous companies – a significant number of large corporations and offices still use Windows 7, and some are just now migrating to a newer system straight from the venerable Windows XP. The end of support is a very troublesome issue for them, so in autumn 2018 Microsoft decided to launch a special option to extend the support for another 3 years, i.e. until January 14, 2023, addressing this offer specifically to business customers. Although this is not official information, leaks say that only institutions and companies that purchased Windows 7 through the purchase of a collective license will benefit from the extension of the support period. This means that individual customers will be excluded from this offer.

It must be admitted, that it will not be a cheap service, which is confirmed by the information that has just appeared on the web. The offer applies to two versions of Windows 7: Enterprise and Pro, and the prices for additional support for these systems seem to be excessive. In the case of the first version of the OS, the first year of support costs $25, the second one – $50, and the third one – $100. Prices for Windows 7 Pro are twice as high, i.e. $50 for the first year, $100 for the second and $200 for the third. What's more – these are the fees for using only a single workstation, so large companies with hundreds of PCs must be prepare for really big expenses.

1. Microsoft - official website