Windows 7 in 2021

[pplx5568]

is it safe for me to continue using windows 7 after end of life I hate windows 10 and 8.1 looks and don't want linux.

I know many of you will say to use windows 10 but I hate the os. linux is also not an option. and I don't think my computer can run windows 10. Am I stuck what should I do? 

[pplx5568]

how do I delete i posted this twice sorry.

[SkilledRebuilds]

Pretty sure it depends what platform your on whether its worth staying back.

 

My 4790K was around when Win7 was. My 10850k wasnt so thats probably going to have issues...maybe with CPU load balancing or threading .. I dunno..

Probably platform dependant.

 

What are you running?

[SkilledRebuilds]

1 minute ago, pplx5568 said:

how do I delete i posted this twice sorry.

Report your post to mods.

[emosun]

I typed out a huge long response and a mod deleted the other thread fml lol

basically yeah you can use 7 is very specific instances just fine

[Electronics Wizardy]

What do you mean by safe?

 

There are a lot of security holes in windows 7 that won't get fixed.

 

Also support for things like browsers will stop pretty soon, so you won't be able to browse the internet normally.

 

Id plan on upgrading soon, as your will be forced to if you want to keep using the web and new programs and hardware.

[Princess Luna]

I am fairly sure you can configure Windows 10 to look and feel just the way you want it, disliking the looks of the OS should not be your main reasoning for a choice. You can also reduce its graphical fidelity if your PC struggles to run it. However, you should be fine if your PC runs Windows 7 well enough already.

It is highly recommended to run the latest version of Windows 10 in 2021, as older OSes lose support for newer drivers, as well as programs. You may not notice it at this time, however fairly soon things like your browser will start losing support and you'll be stuck using insecure, outdated versions.

Why are you discarding Linux as an option? Linux in general is quite lightweight and is perfect for older machines that struggle to run anything else. Though it has its own quirks.

[BondiBlue]

Answers are going to vary from person to person, but I'd strongly suggest using Windows 10 (unless your machine is ancient it should run it). If you don't like the looks then there are ways to theme it to look like Windows 7. 

 

I still use Windows 7, but I wouldn't use it on my main machine (even if I could) for daily tasks. 

 

What are the specs of your computer?

[emosun]

2 minutes ago, Princess Luna said:

Why are you discarding Linux as an option?

I can fully understand why they discard it as an option. could type a novel about why linux drives me insane lol

 

[pplx5568]

3 minutes ago, BondiBlue said:

Answers are going to vary from person to person, but I'd strongly suggest using Windows 10 (unless your machine is ancient it should run it). If you don't like the looks then there are ways to theme it to look like Windows 7. 

 

I still use Windows 7, but I wouldn't use it on my main machine (even if I could) for daily tasks. 

 

What are the specs of your computer?

Pentium 4, 1gb of ram, Windows 7 Home Premium x86. 80gb HDD

[jaslion]

Just now, pplx5568 said:

Pentium 4, 1gb of ram, Windows 7 Home Premium x86. 80gb HDD

That is barely a computer now. That machine is probably 20 years old. Can't you at least get like a 200$ dell that obliterates this system in terms of capability?

[pplx5568]

1 minute ago, jaslion said:

That is barely a computer now. That machine is probably 20 years old. Can't you at least get like a 200$ dell that obliterates this system in terms of capability?

it works on windows 7

[BondiBlue]

3 minutes ago, pplx5568 said:

Pentium 4, 1gb of ram, Windows 7 Home Premium x86. 80gb HDD

Uhhhh. You should seriously reconsider your decision about Linux. 

[emosun]

3 minutes ago, pplx5568 said:

Pentium 4, 1gb of ram, Windows 7 Home Premium x86. 80gb HDD

You actually should be running windows xp on that.

But yeah I'd say 7 is basically your only option with hardware from that long ago.

[pplx5568]

5 minutes ago, jaslion said:

That is barely a computer now. That machine is probably 20 years old. Can't you at least get like a 200$ dell that obliterates this system in terms of capability?

its a eMachines Computer they say "Never Obsolete" LOL

[Oshino Shinobu]

No one should be using Windows 7 on a machine connected to a network, it's not secure and hasn't been for a while now. There are multiple critical security vulnerabilities that will not be fixed outside of ESU support.

 

Windows 8, 8.1 or 10 should be used instead as they actually receive security updates. That said, W10 can run like crap on hardware as old as yours so Linux may well be your best bet. 

[pplx5568]

1 minute ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

No one should be using Windows 7 on a machine connected to a network, it's not secure and hasn't been for a while now. There are multiple critical security vulnerabilities that will not be fixed outside of ESU support.

 

Windows 8, 8.1 or 10 should be used instead as they actually receive security updates. That said, W10 can run like crap on hardware as old as yours so Linux may well be your best bet. 

I can't run 10 or 8.1 so I have no choice but upgrading to a new computer

 

[emosun]

7 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

No one should be using Windows 7 on a machine connected to a network

unless the network is used by one person and only the number of machines is multiple

[emosun]

8 minutes ago, pplx5568 said:

I can't run 10 or 8.1 so I have no choice but upgrading to a new computer

actually you would only need a "newer" computer and not a new one. 

Something as simple as an old core 2 quad would be cheap or sometimes even free and can run windows 10 just fine. Basically you'd need at least a 12-13 year old machine vs a 15-20 year old machine.

But that being said windows 7 should have about a year and a half of browser support left in it so you can roll with it if you want.

[Oshino Shinobu]

9 minutes ago, emosun said:

unless the network is used by one person and only the number of machines is multiple

Even then it still shouldn't be used without ESU licensing. It's well out of date and vulnerable to multiple methods of attack that can lead to theft of data and personal information, having a single user on the network doesn't change that.

 

If it's on a network that's either connected to the internet or connected to other machines, it poses a threat and should be avoided where possible. It's not like it's guaranteed to be attacked, but it's inherently insecure so shouldn't be used. 

[Princess Luna]

8 minutes ago, emosun said:

unless the network is used by one person and only the number of machines is multiple

...which means it must never ever be connected to the internet. Or you could just use Linux and get up-to-date browser and networking stack.

[emosun]

2 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Even then it still shouldn't be used without ESU licensing. It's well out of date and vulnerable to multiple methods of attack that can lead to theft of data and personal information, having a single user on the network doesn't change that.

 

If it's on a network that's either connected to the internet or connected to other machines, it poses a threat and should be avoided where possible. It's not like it's guaranteed to be attacked, but it's inherently insecure so shouldn't be used. 

 

4 minutes ago, Princess Luna said:

...which means it must never ever be connected to the internet. Or you could just use Linux and get up-to-date browser and networking stack.

for the sake of the thread I'm gonna say take it to a pm with me if you wanna discuss OS preferences outside of ops question. I don't wanna go off on any tangents 

[pplx5568]

22 minutes ago, emosun said:

 

for the sake of the thread I'm gonna say take it to a pm with me if you wanna discuss OS preferences outside of ops question. I don't wanna go off on any tangents 

ok

[r00tb33r]

That's seriously slow.  I recently remotely serviced an overseas friend's P4 machine running XP, very similar to yours.  Slooooow.  At least on Windows 7 you will have new browsers indefinitely because unofficial Chromium and Firefox builds will continue because it's an NT 6.x system, so there won't be technical reasons why those browsers can't be built for that target.  But you might not have the RAM to enjoy all that, or you'll be swapping to disk all day long.

 

The subject of energy efficiency is relevant for this point I think.  P4 (the Netburst varieties) are very energy inefficient, so if your machine is powered on a lot you're probably spending as much on electricity as you would pay for a newer used/refurbished machine.