Updated: July 23, 2020 (September 27, 2018)

Enterprises Get Windows 7 Limited Support Reprieve

Michael analyzed and wrote about Microsoft's operating systems, including the Windows client OS, as well as compliance and governance. Michael... more

Organizations can use Extended Security Updates to run Windows 7 on some systems through Jan. 2023.
The updates do not allow organizations to safely postpone Windows 10 migration for most systems.

Volume licensing customers will be able to purchase Extended Security Updates (ESUs) for Windows 7 when the client OS leaves Extended support in Jan. 2020. The updates could keep some Windows 7 systems viable through Jan. 2023, when the program ends. However, caution is required, and Windows 10 migration should still be the target for most devices.

Extended Security Updates

Extended support for Windows 7 SP1 ends on Jan. 14, 2020. After that date, Microsoft normally would not supply any fixes for security vulnerabilities or other problems in Windows 7. ESUs will offer some level of security updates through Jan. 2023 for Windows 7 Professional and Enterprise editions. It is not clear whether ESUs will be restricted only to security updates, or whether they will also provide quality (bug fixes). It is unlikely an ESU would have any feature update.

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