Windows 7 is dead: How to stay as safe as possible after the security updates stop

Windows 7 is one of the best things Microsoft ever released. The much-adored operating system wooed back users who reviled the disappointing Windows Vista, and it remained a comfortable refuge during the even bleaker Windows 8 era.

Even today, with Windows 10 fixing Windows 8’s worst mistakes and standing as a superb desktop operating system of its own, a legion of vocal PC enthusiasts swears by Windows 7. Why? Because it stays out of your way, and it just works.

Until today. On January 14, 2020, Microsoft ends Windows 7’s extended support. Windows 7 is dead.

Your PC will keep operating, of course. Microsoft isn’t literally pulling the plug on your devices. But Windows 7 won’t receive any more updates or security patches, meaning your PC will also be very vulnerable to all those nasty malware programs garnering headlines seemingly every day. If you keep using Windows 7—and over a quarter of all computers run it, per NetMarketShare—you’re on your own, and the Internet can get nasty.

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from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2QUeeV0