Windows 7 End of Life and What you Need to Know
On January 14, 2020, Microsoft will stop issuing security updates for Windows 7 which means you will no longer receive support for your Windows 7 device(s).
How will this impact me?
- Without security updates, your device becomes vulnerable to emerging threats.
- If and when your operating system becomes corrupt due to system failure or a malicious attack you will have little to no support when trying to retrieve lost sensitive information.
- Waiting until the product is end of life to upgrade is not suggested. If you plan on keeping your windows 7 machine, we encourage you to upgrade to the chosen supported OS prior to windows 7 end of life.
What can I expect?
- Your windows 7 device will still boot up and work after January 14th, 2020.
- You should have and continue to receive notifications through the end of 2019 with recommended actions.
- Internet Explorer will discontinue support on Windows 7 devices January 14, 2020.
What options do I have?
- Upgrade your current device
- Microsoft does support upgrading your current device to window 10. Please see the section in this article labeled Windows 10 specifications if you plan on upgrading your device.
- Purchase a new device
- This is Microsoft’s suggested recommendation.
Windows 10 Specifications
- Your device will need to meet the following requirements in order to successfully migrate from Windows 7 to the Windows 10 Operating system. Meeting these requirements does not guarantee that your machine will function as desired. We recommend as does Microsoft moving to a new device.
- Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor.
- RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) for 32-bit or 2 GB for 64-bit.
- Hard disk space: 16 GB for 32-bit OS 20 GB for 64-bit OS.
- Graphics card: DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver.
- Display: 800 x 600 resolution