[O/T] Win7 EoL Transition

[WanderingAries]

It's getting awful close to the Mid-January retirement date for Windows 7 and I was wondering what sort of things everybody had in mind? I'd already reserved drive images with Win10 of the systems I manage here at home, so there's no issue with actual costs, but even knowing the behind the scenes info I'm still kinda teetering between "do I bother?" or "should I just wait until I have an issue?" (namely, websites start complaining More than they do now). What are your thoughts and plans?

[boggo2300]

20 minutes ago, WanderingAries said:

It's getting awful close to the Mid-January retirement date for Windows 7 and I was wondering what sort of things everybody had in mind? I'd already reserved drive images with Win10 of the systems I manage here at home, so there's no issue with actual costs, but even knowing the behind the scenes info I'm still kinda teetering between "do I bother?" or "should I just wait until I have an issue?" (namely, websites start complaining More than they do now). What are your thoughts and plans?

I've been off windows 7 both at home and work for years now went straight to windows 8 (which sucked) because I hated windows 7 so much, however the migration from 7-10 is pretty straightforward in my experience, I've heard some horror stories, but it was smooth sailing in the 15 or so upgrade in places I did.

[WanderingAries]

13 minutes ago, boggo2300 said:

I've been off windows 7 both at home and work for years now went straight to windows 8 (which sucked) because I hated windows 7 so much, however the migration from 7-10 is pretty straightforward in my experience, I've heard some horror stories, but it was smooth sailing in the 15 or so upgrade in places I did.

Heh, I'm the opposite with 8/7. XP was the Best and it took a bit for me to adapt to 7, but not as much as 10 will. I'll have to do quite a bit of tweaking since I still use widgets. I've already done most the prep in the old images and had it running on my MBP (currently out of com), but still so much under the hood I need to learn. Not NEARLY as much as there will be with Catalina though. X.X

[boggo2300]

Don't get me wrong, Windows 8 was a disaster, and I hated it, I just REALLY hated windows 7, last windows I was actually happy with was 2000, but I'm just an old grump

[dmaker]

I love Windows 7. 

 

For Windows alternatives, there are some great Linux distros you might want to try. Mint, Zorin, Elementary are a few that pop into my head as great choices for first time Linux users. 

 

[Sunrunner]

14 hours ago, WanderingAries said:

It's getting awful close to the Mid-January retirement date for Windows 7 and I was wondering what sort of things everybody had in mind? I'd already reserved drive images with Win10 of the systems I manage here at home, so there's no issue with actual costs, but even knowing the behind the scenes info I'm still kinda teetering between "do I bother?" or "should I just wait until I have an issue?" (namely, websites start complaining More than they do now). What are your thoughts and plans?

 

My household will be dropping Windows entirely once Windows-7 stops being sufficient for our desktop needs; taking up whichever Linux distribution impresses at the time.

[MetaVileTerror]

I have an XP machine that actually runs City of Heroes, while my Windows 7 does not.
However, I use my spouse's Windows 10 rig for Homecoming, since I can multi-box on it without any slowdown.  

It was, however, an ABSOLUTE pain in the ass to track down all* the "phone-home" mechanisms in Windows 10 and nuke or neuter them.  Bastards are getting real wily, with both obvious and subtle back-up operations and processes designed to revive Windows Automatic Update.  Medic's the obvious one, but there were two more under-the-hood processes which also needed to be tanked to stop WAU from getting re-enabled.

 

* I'm still not even sure I've managed to get them all at this point.  Stuff like "Cortana" being integrated in the Windows Search Function made it extra difficult to strip out the parts that were contacting Microsoft, while maintaining my own ability to search for files on my own computer.

At this point, I really, really should just learn to use Linux.  Windows is friggin' ridiculous.

[RubyRed]

27 minutes ago, MetaVileTerror said:

At this point, I really, really should just learn to use Linux.  Windows is friggin' ridiculous.

Yeah all of Windows 10's spyware finally pushed me to adopt Linux. Thankfully over the years it's gotten a lot more usable for people who don't have comp sci degrees. Bonus, CoH plays great under WINE. 😃

[Rathulfr]

Unpopular opinion: I love Windows 10.  I think it's the best version of Windows ever, since I started working with Windows 3.X back in 1991.  Most of the criticisms and paranoia about Windows 10 are overblown and unmerited.  And they pale in comparison to the awful shenanigans everyone seems to blithely accept from Apple and Google.

[jubakumbi]

2 minutes ago, Rathulfr said:

Unpopular opinion: I love Windows 10.  I think it's the best version of Windows ever, since I started working with Windows 3.X back in 1991.  Most of the criticisms and paranoia about Windows 10 are overblown and unmerited.  And they pale in comparison to the awful shenanigans everyone seems to blithely accept from Apple and Google.

Could not agree more.

Professional technologist for almost 30 years now.

The FUD around all this is staggering.

[Oubliette_Red]

30 minutes ago, Rathulfr said:

Unpopular opinion: I love Windows 10.  I think it's the best version of Windows ever, since I started working with Windows 3.X back in 1991.  Most of the criticisms and paranoia about Windows 10 are overblown and unmerited.  And they pale in comparison to the awful shenanigans everyone seems to blithely accept from Apple and Google.

I would not have agreed with you a couple of years ago.

But after having used Windows 10 exclusively at work since then, I've changed my mind. My laptop is Win10 and runs CoH, my desktop still has Win7 and runs CoH as well, though it's still in a box after a recent move. When I get around to unpacking it I'll probably update it.

 

Edited October 12, 2019 by Oubliette_Red

[boggo2300]

10 hours ago, jubakumbi said:

Could not agree more.

Professional technologist for almost 30 years now.

The FUD around all this is staggering.

Exactly this, though maybe not my favourite version of Windows, it's way better than anything since 2k

 

the whole SPYWARE OOOHHH OOOOOH  ITS REPORTING ON ME is really amazing to me, like they care about your cat video fetish

[nihilii]

I don't have strong feelings against Win10 or for Win7, but...

If there's one thing I've learned about life, it's that whenever people rush to say "it's not that bad", make fun of you for having questions, use acronyms like "FUD" and such, there's a huge underlying issue.

Applies to products, people, ideas... Everything.

 

This isn't even to target anyone in this topic specifically. Quite the contrary, and the near universality of these patterns in Win10 discussions is an even bigger red flag.

I'll move on when some new software or a hardware change compels me to, likely a couple years after support is ended. I haven't even installed any update beyond Win7 SP1, years and years ago.

There's the other side of the "FUD": according to the Newer Is Always Better lobbyists, my computers should be zombies part of a botnet, and my identity and bank details (all stored in plain text, mind you) have already been shared all around the world.

Well... in ~20 years of daily Internet use, I've never been pwned (at least in any obvious way: no account hacked, no suspicious bank charges).

When it comes to staying safe, basic diligence in opening email attachments and browsing with NoScript on seems to go further than keeping your OS up to date.

Or I'm just insanely lucky. *shrug*

Too much Win10 apologism comes from one of two groups:

- power users (often professionals, who hold religious-like beliefs about how IT ought to be used)

- casual users (who don't really care all that much for privacy or control, just want the thing to work)

 

I'm sure the apologism is justified if you fall in either of the two groups. But if you're at the middle point between these two, the arguments aren't too convincing. Especially as apologists confuse their personal level of attachment to an issue with the legitimacy or lack thereof of that issue for everyone else. Nobody has ever been swayed by someone else going "lol your problems don't matter and your feelings are wrong".

 

 

[Hyperstrike]

On 10/11/2019 at 6:00 PM, WanderingAries said:

It's getting awful close to the Mid-January retirement date for Windows 7 and I was wondering what sort of things everybody had in mind? I'd already reserved drive images with Win10 of the systems I manage here at home, so there's no issue with actual costs, but even knowing the behind the scenes info I'm still kinda teetering between "do I bother?" or "should I just wait until I have an issue?" (namely, websites start complaining More than they do now). What are your thoughts and plans?

I have VMs of my last system's VirtualXP environment.
I have VMs of Win7.
I'm on Win10 Corporate LTSC (Basically a store-less version of Win Corporate that has a defined support lifespan and just gets security patches.  Not the big quarterly "feature" packages that seem to brick so many machines.)

 

[jubakumbi]

5 hours ago, nihilii said:

I don't have strong feelings against Win10 or for Win7, but...

If there's one thing I've learned about life, it's that whenever people rush to say "it's not that bad", make fun of you for having questions, use acronyms like "FUD" and such, there's a huge underlying issue.

Applies to products, people, ideas... Everything.

 

This isn't even to target anyone in this topic specifically. Quite the contrary, and the near universality of these patterns in Win10 discussions is an even bigger red flag.

I'll move on when some new software or a hardware change compels me to, likely a couple years after support is ended. I haven't even installed any update beyond Win7 SP1, years and years ago.

There's the other side of the "FUD": according to the Newer Is Always Better lobbyists, my computers should be zombies part of a botnet, and my identity and bank details (all stored in plain text, mind you) have already been shared all around the world.

Well... in ~20 years of daily Internet use, I've never been pwned (at least in any obvious way: no account hacked, no suspicious bank charges).

When it comes to staying safe, basic diligence in opening email attachments and browsing with NoScript on seems to go further than keeping your OS up to date.

Or I'm just insanely lucky. *shrug*

Too much Win10 apologism comes from one of two groups:

- power users (often professionals, who hold religious-like beliefs about how IT ought to be used)

- casual users (who don't really care all that much for privacy or control, just want the thing to work)

 

I'm sure the apologism is justified if you fall in either of the two groups. But if you're at the middle point between these two, the arguments aren't too convincing. Especially as apologists confuse their personal level of attachment to an issue with the legitimacy or lack thereof of that issue for everyone else. Nobody has ever been swayed by someone else going "lol your problems don't matter and your feelings are wrong".

 

 

Personally, not interested in swaying anyone.

 

If people want to put mysticism and feelings into a what are very specific, technological subjects, they are welcome to so, IMO, it's their lives.

I see gamers all the time attach personal feelings and self worth on every packet that leaves their computer, as if it has some immense value or some deeply personal information...it's their time and energy to do so, they are welcome to spend their time quashing all the network connections they like.

 

I happen to understand the technology involved at a deep level, which I know not everyone does.

 

Nonetheless, from my POV, it is still simply amusing to me, the level of FUD people pour into this topic - the technology snooping on their private lives.

I find it hilarious...I always think it's funny when people make shit up rather than taking the time to really understand. 🙂 

[Extor Prime]

Win10 leaks like a sieve, but it is easy to use and requires very little fiddling for the purposes of gaming.

 

Which is why my gaming rig is Win10, and that is all that it is. It is a humongous, expensive console for all intents and purposes.

 

All other business is done on a Linux laptop.

[Hyperstrike]

2 hours ago, Extor Prime said:

Win10 leaks like a sieve, but it is easy to use and requires very little fiddling for the purposes of gaming.

 

Which is why my gaming rig is Win10, and that is all that it is. It is a humongous, expensive console for all intents and purposes.

 

All other business is done on a Linux laptop.

 

And it's not THAT hard to shut Win10 up.

You're NEVER going to get a completely tightened down Windows system.  (Sorry, it just ain't happening...)
But you can adjust the signal to noise ratio significantly.

[Extor Prime]

For sure, for sure. But nothing beats compartmentalization, in my view.

[Hyperstrike]

10 hours ago, Extor Prime said:

For sure, for sure. But nothing beats compartmentalization, in my view.

Air gap in a Faraday cage.

[Xeres]

Well, I use Win 10 at home and I like it.  If you're worried about being tracked and all that stuff, well, maybe you should be.  But realize trying to not be tracked these days is like asking for privacy on mass transit during rush hour.  What you think is potentially tracking you is the tip of the iceberg.

 

[Squid Vicious]

Windows 7 breathed new life into older gaming boxes and was a fantastic upgrade over WinXP. 

Windows 8.x.x was terrible.   

Windows 10 was and still is the best version of Windows we've seen in years.

[Pengatron]

Win 7 will not suddenly just quit working this coming January.

It will work after that just the same as it does now, for years to come.

It's just that MS will no longer be doing any updates to it.

They will still release security patches for any serious vulnerabilities that get discovered after that.

 

If you like Win 7 and/or hate Win 10 just keep using Win 7 as long as you can do the things you want to do.

It will work in the future the same way it does now.

[Hyperstrike]

15 hours ago, Squid Vicious said:

Windows 7 breathed new life into older gaming boxes and was a fantastic upgrade over WinXP. 

Windows 8.x.x was terrible.   

Windows 10 was and still is the best version of Windows we've seen in years.

I'm going to agree with you about Win7 and 8 (and especially Server 2012...who the *CENSORED!* puts a TABLET interface into a SERVER OS?
I'm going to disagree about Win10 though.
There's been damage done because of the Metro/Modern UI.
You have various controls splattered across the original Windows WMI tools out of Control Panel AND the new half-PANCAKED Metro/Modern control interfaces.

Try creating an admin-level user in 8/10.
You FIRST have to use the Metro/Modern interface and tell Microsoft that NO you DO NOT want to tie your LOCAL OS to your Microsoft Account...
Then you create the user.
Then you have to go to the User management interface in Control Panel and flip the user to Admin...

For larger orgs, this isn't as much of a problem since they're running Active Directory.  But I have a LOT of small-business client who simply don't have the resources (or will) to run their own network management, even with my help.

Edited October 15, 2019 by Hyperstrike

[EmmySky]

I still miss my Windows 3.11 (Windows for Workgroups).  It literally had to stop working before I upgraded.  As previous posters stated, you can keep using Win 7 if you like it, eventually it will stop working but that may be many years down the road and by then, perhaps, you will find a replacement you like.  Keep hope alive!

[Sidious]

been using Win 10 since it came out. it works fine, you may need to tweak settings to have it do exactly like you want (but that's the same on any system).

 

It all matters on what build you get for it. The major Win X upgrade I'm doing for a hospital is using build 1903. It's a bit different from 1803 & 1809 builds. It looks different enough that some people get a bit confused.

 

I wouldn't worry about it though. It's not like the new Mac OS that eliminates support for 32 bit programs. Or in the above project makes it so the email program no longer works.