Author Topic: Anyone still on Windows 7?  (Read 5196 times)

ninthace

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Anyone still on Windows 7?
« on: 13:41:32, 14/01/20 »
Might be time for an upgrade - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-51090407
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vghikers

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #1 on: 14:05:53, 14/01/20 »
One of my production machines still runs W7, only because it's occasionally useful for support and testing purposes and, having worked flawlessly for years, I let it be (for now).
I have another dedicated media machine on W7 for our audio-visual system, again operated flawlessly for years so no point in messing with it.

The end-of-support thing is irrelevant to me, I turned the rubbish Windows Update off years ago (not that I suggest the same for non-techie people!).

pleb

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #2 on: 15:16:37, 14/01/20 »
My old lappie is 7, but all that updates stuff was a right pain, doesnt seem to happen anymore.
Not that I have had it online since about October anyway. Cant do online banking at all anymore thanks to bank locking me out of it back in early  august (?). There was a load of stuff bout re registering with them n using a number generator thing they posted to me, but think you need to load some gubbins on to your smartphone, I dont have one!
Have to do it the old fashioned way by calling at my bank machines every now n then to get a mini statement.
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jimbob

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #3 on: 15:27:04, 14/01/20 »
W7 till my current PC dies. Only used for the odd browse and email these days.

Use my android tablet for just about everything now.

Photos etc backed up to the cloud these days with an armageddon backup on a portable drive.
Too little, too late, too bad......

WhitstableDave

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #4 on: 15:29:18, 14/01/20 »
Yes, I saw that story yesterday.

I've not used Windows 7 for some time, but it was definitely my favourite version of Windows. I'm using Windows 10 with Classic Shell - a utility that makes the interface look like Windows 7!  :)

As I read the article it occurred to me that Windows 7 is more than 10 years old. So even after 10 years of security updates and bug fixes, it's still so full of flaws that users are being advised not to do online banking or send emails when using Windows 7. Okay, I know operating systems are incredibly complex, but it's still a pretty poor show...
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ninthace

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #5 on: 15:31:48, 14/01/20 »

As I read the article it occurred to me that Windows 7 is more than 10 years old. So even after 10 years of security updates and bug fixes, it's still so full of flaws that users are being advised not to do online banking or send emails when using Windows 7. Okay, I know operating systems are incredibly complex, but it's still a pretty poor show...
I think it is a little more complicated than that actually  ::)


More advice here https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/14/windows_7_uk_cybercops/
« Last Edit: 15:35:10, 14/01/20 by ninthace »
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WhitstableDave

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #6 on: 15:48:07, 14/01/20 »
I think it is a little more complicated than that actually  ::)

More advice here https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/14/windows_7_uk_cybercops/
Thanks, but feel free to explain why with a summary in your own words...  ;)
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ninthace

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #7 on: 16:17:57, 14/01/20 »
Thanks, but feel free to explain why with a summary in your own words...  ;)
  Apart from weaknesses discovered in the original product, any OS has to evolve to provide new or improved functionality to support software developed to run on it.  The software running on the OS also evolves to provide new or improved functionality which puts pressure on the OS to change again.  From time to time, security weakness are discovered in the various chips that the OS runs on.  The OS has to be redeveloped to try to head these weaknesses off at the pass.  Any of these processes can sometimes introduce a weakness in the system that then has to be corrected
Thus the OS is updated to:
Correct errors/defects discovered in the original product
Provide new or additional functionality
To correct weaknesses discovered in hardware
To correct errors arising from any of the above.


If you were to read the blurb released by MS every time they release an update, you can find out what they are for.
« Last Edit: 16:21:18, 14/01/20 by ninthace »
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WhitstableDave

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #8 on: 16:49:12, 14/01/20 »
Hi Ninthace. I don't disagree with anything you've said. But I do think I look at these things from a different (and very simplistic!) angle...

The basic problem with operating systems such as Windows is that no one alive knows how they work because they've become too complex. Put simply, unlike (say) a F1 car engine, there is nobody who knows exactly how Windows 7 works.

Back in the good old days, I used to program in Z80 assembly language as well as pure machine code. I could read the disassembled code of a Z80 computer's OS (Spectrum, Sharp MZ700, RML 380Z, etc.) and see exactly what it was doing. I could write code that did precisely what I wanted it to (and only that), and was as compact and efficient as possible.

But things were much simpler then and they got infinitely (almost!) more complicated. As I understand it, Windows is compiled, which in itself makes the OS extremely bloated and very slow, and I'm fairly certain it's been created by a very big team of programmers. And as I said, no one person actually understands how or what the OS is doing, so problems are patched as and when they're reported - which, 10 years later, is still work in progress (or rather, it was!).
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ninthace

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #9 on: 17:07:25, 14/01/20 »
No argument with the need for constant patching but as I explained the drivers for the patches are complex, various and both emergent and evolving.  Not all patches are to correct a defect, many add functionality.  Even the defect patches can be to correct hardware issues, unlike the good old ZX days, Windows is expected to run on a range of different chip architectures which also change with time and manufacturer.
I agree it is a complex and no-one understands it. Then again the first proper programme I ever wrote took nearly 6 months to develop and was so complex that by the end, while I could explain the parts, I could not explain how it worked in its entirety either - but it did.
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fernman

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #10 on: 17:20:46, 14/01/20 »
Windows 7? I have just pensioned off a 10-years-old XP netbook; I might have streamlined it to be the fastest XP you could imagine but it was falling to pieces. Since then I have been wrestling with the complexities of Windows 10 on a newer machine.

In a similar vein to the OP, the Microsoft Store wouldn't load on my 3-years-old Windows Phone and when I did a search I found out that MS discontinued the app on their phones on 19 December. There had been no warning. It means I'm unable to get any more apps, I'm stuck with the ones I have, and if they start to fall by the wayside I'll  be forced to look for an Android phone sooner than I had hoped.

Rob Goes Walking

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #11 on: 17:26:01, 14/01/20 »
Saying you don't understand a program because it's compiled not hand crafted in assembly is like saying you don't understand walking because you didn't build your legs.

Mel

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #12 on: 18:27:09, 14/01/20 »
My lappy still uses W7. I've been getting notifications from Microsoft for a while now telling me the end of the world is nigh if I don't upgrade/update to something less steam-powered. 


So when this (extremely ancient) thing conks out, I'll probably just use my PC at work because, to be honest, I can't justify buying a new lappy just because Microsoft are no longer supporting the OS it came with.




Tame Camper

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #13 on: 18:29:42, 14/01/20 »
Maybe this is a good moment to change to Linux/ Ubuntu.
It's free and -in my experience- it just works. With Windows my PC would clog up and get slower within every two years and need a re-install.Changed to Ubuntu and been practically trouble free for the last nine years.
Won't be able to run every program that was developed for Windows, but then I basically just need the OS, a mail-program, a browser and some office stuff: wordprocessor and a spreadsheet. Thes come free with Ubuntu as well.

Rob Goes Walking

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #14 on: 18:43:04, 14/01/20 »
Last time I checked Linux out (about 4 years ago) it still wasn't ready for non-techy types.

If your requirements are minimal and your hardware common you might have got away with using Linux without being an IT geek.

For most people Windows is a better fit. I first used Linux in 1995 and these days where I can no longer be bothered to spend ages learning other people's systems and require access to Windows apps, Windows is a better fit for me too.

 

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