We have been advised that Microsoft has instructed its various partners to cease shipment of PC\u2019s with Windows 7 pre-installed or \u201cin the box\u201d and has also advised retailers to stop selling Windows 7 licenses.\u00a0 As of this month, Windows 7 goes into \u201cExtended Support mode\u201d which means the countdown has started on the cutoff of long term support for Windows 7.<\/p>\n
What does this mean for you?\u00a0 For your current <\/i>Windows 7 systems it really means nothing as Microsoft will be supporting Windows 7 with security and other patches for some time to come.\u00a0 However, if you had planned on purchasing new systems in the future with Windows 7 then you might have a problem.\u00a0 In the past, whenever we have seen Microsoft issue a \u201cstop sale\u201d order it has taken a bit of time for product in the distribution pipelines to become exhausted.\u00a0 So, there is a small window of opportunity to order systems out of the various distribution channels that will still arrive with Windows 7 either installed or \u201cin the box\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 You can expect that window of opportunity to be short (weeks, not months).<\/p>\n
Windows 7 licenses available for purchase as standalone items will also evaporate pretty quickly.<\/p>\n
Going forward systems will ship with Windows 8.1 and, sometime late this year, systems should start to ship with Windows 10.\u00a0 Windows 10 is intended to be the \u201ctrue\u201d successor to Windows 7 and promises a return to the desktop orientation found in Windows 7 vs the \u201ctablet\u201d orientation found in Windows 8 and 8.1.\u00a0 Microsoft is putting a great deal of effort into Windows 10 and the hope is it will prove to be far more \u201cfriendly\u201d to business users and business software providers than 8\/8.1 has been.\u00a0 The onus is definitely being put on software vendors to bring their applications \u201cup to date\u201d in order to work properly in the new Windows world.\u00a0 I believe software vendors will be much more inclined to make their apps work in Windows 10 than they have been in Windows 8\/8.1 so, overall, the move towards Windows 10 should be \u201ca good thing\u201d.\u00a0 Also, Microsoft has announced the upgrade to Windows 10 will be free<\/i><\/b> for one year from the release date of Windows 10 to users of Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1!\u00a0 So purchasing a system now with Windows 8.1 installed will set you up for Windows 10 as soon as it is available.<\/p>\n
Personally, I think the \u201cfear\u201d of Windows 8\/8.1 has been pretty over-hyped and there are tools to make Win 8\/8.1 look and act a lot like Windows 7.\u00a0 Windows 8\/8.1 is a pretty fine O\/S under the covers and I don\u2019t think this relatively short period of no Windows 7 availability prior to Windows 10 arriving should stop you from refreshing systems.\u00a0 Certainly, there is a compelling argument that can be made for getting the hell off your old XP boxes and going to Windows 8.1 for the short term.\u00a0 The doom and gloom predictions for Microsoft going forward are, in my view, also misguided.\u00a0 Microsoft is doing incredible things in the Cloud world (hello Office 365, I\u2019m talking about you \u2026) and you can be sure they are pouring their heart and soul into Windows 10, as well.\u00a0 Microsoft is never better than when they perceive they are the \u201cunderdog\u201d (yes, an odd statement to make about a company their size, but true nevertheless) so keep an eye on what they release over the next 12 months.\u00a0 The Cloud offerings and Windows 10 are going to be pretty awesome!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"