Windows 7 Extended Support ends today
From now on, you're on your own (unless you pay Microsoft $25-$50 per PC per year for the next three years for essential patches)
Support for Windows 7 officially ends today with users, as from tomorrow, no longer receiving updates or security patches.
And all Windows users have been urged overnight to apply the latest Patch Tuesday updates in expectation that a serious security flaw will be fixed: security specialists expect hackers to quickly craft exploits to take advantage of the security flaw, of anyone unwise enough not to have patched right away.
Consumer users of Windows 7 Home will no longer be furnished with either updates or security fixes as from tomorrow. But enterprise users will be able to pay for up to three additional years of security patches under Microsoft's Extended Security Updates scheme.
These will cost $25-$50 per PC, per year, depending on whether it's Windows 7 Pro or Windows 7 Enterprise, and will double each year before all support finally ceases in January 2023.
If an organisation skips year one, but wants to subscribe in year two or three, it will also have to pay for the previous years' patches as well.
Consumers, though, have been strongly urged to shift by the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
"The NCSC would encourage people to upgrade devices currently running Windows 7, allowing them to continue receiving software updates which help protect their devices," a spokesman told The Daily Mail.
They continued: "We would urge those using the software after the deadline to replace unsupported devices as soon as possible, to move sensitive data to a supported device, and not to use them for tasks like accessing bank and other sensitive accounts. They should also consider accessing email from a different device."
Despite the impending cessation of support for Windows 7, it still maintains, by some estimates, a market share of around one-third in terms of desktop and laptop operating systems, according to the latest NetMarketShare figures.