Someone is threatening Windows 7 users with a misleading warning.
Guess who? Microsoft itself…
Microsoft has just issued a clear warning saying Windows 7 users should remain on the aging operating system "at your own risk, at your own peril."
But why particularly Windows 7 Users?
Since Windows 7 runs on 55 percent of all the computers on the planet, Microsoft is worried that its goal to reach 1 Billion Windows 10 installations by 2017 could be harder.
During a recent interview with the Windows Weekly, Microsoft chief marketing officer Chris Capossela warned about the risks of using Windows 7 and urged users that it's time to switch to the new Windows 10 operating system instead.
Capossela also stressed that Windows 7 is apparently less secure than Windows 10, so it is "so incredibly important to try to end the fragmentation of the Windows install base" as well as to get them to a "safer place."
Here the so-called safer place Microsoft means is its newest operating system Windows 10.
Microsoft is Worried For us. Really?
Here’s what Capossela worried for Windows 7 Users:
"We do worry when people are running an operating system that’s 10 years old that the next printer they buy isn’t going to work well, or they buy a new game, they buy Fallout 4, a very popular game, and it doesn’t work on a bunch of older machines.
And so, as we are pushing our ISV [Independent Software Vendor] and hardware partners to build great new stuff that takes advantage of Windows 10 that obviously makes the old stuff really bad and not to mention viruses and security problems."
Do you notice any problem with Capossela’s statement? I did, the warning is entirely baseless.
There is nothing wrong with the security of Windows 7 as the operating system will be supported by the company until 2020, neither Windows 7 is less compatible with new hardware and software.
In fact, Windows 7 has a greater market share, which means the operating system is developers’ first choice over Windows 10 as well as the OS has greater compatibility with legacy programs and peripherals.
Fallout 4 not running on Windows 7 computers is also not true, as the blockbuster video game is fully compatible with Windows 7 and Windows 8 machines. Also, in case, the game do not run, no one will be installing Windows 10 to fix it, rather it will be upgrading your components.
Oh! Come On Microsoft, We Know...
The only reason behind this statement is Microsoft’s target of getting one Billion devices running Windows 10 by 2017 or mid-2018, and the motivation is quite clear with the following statement by Capossela:
"We think every machine that is capable of running Windows 10 we should be doing everything we possibly can to get people to move to Windows 10…We are going to try to find that right balance, but we just know there're many people out there who constantly kick the can down the street without a little bit more of a, frankly, push.
And so, there’s no doubt with a base as big as ours, it is hard to move anyone to a new model without angering some people. We don’t want to anger anybody, but we do feel a responsibility to get people to a much better place, and Windows 10 is a much better place than Windows 7. We will always give you a way out, but we’re trying to find the right balance."
This isn’t Microsoft’s first trick to force users to install its newest operating system. Microsoft previously tried a number of times to push Windows 10 more aggressively on systems running Windows 7 and 8.1.
Recently Microsoft announced its first milestone, noting Windows 10 is now officially installed on more than 200 Million devices worldwide since its launch five months ago.
Although there is nothing wrong with setting up a goal, but not respecting users choice and enforcing yours on them is completely not acceptable.
We know that technically Microsoft is giving an option to users, but by enforcing annoying pop-ups every time, removing opt-out options as well as threatening average user with baseless warnings, it appears there is no choice for users at all.
So, it should be completely our choice whether we want to switch to Windows 10 or not.
http://thehackernews.com/2016/01/microsoft-windows-7.html
https://techandupdates.wordpress.com/2016/01/07/microsoft-warning-use-windows-7-at-your-own-risk/
Fuck that. My main machines are windows 7 until the wheels fall off.
