When a product or service is end of life the producer is no longer selling it to new customers or supporting its current customers. This means the manufacturer will no longer be able to perform any vital updates or provide support with any maintenance issues that may occur.
Since January 2020, this has now been the case for Windows 7. Microsoft Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 will no longer be able to provide support for its current customers.
Free security patches or updates will no longer be released meaning you will not follow important industry regulations such as GDPR.
When products become end of life you can still continue to use them, but this is at your own risk. And as providers we highly recommend you do not. Complications are more common than you might think.
The risk of UNSUPPORTED technology
Security
As previously said free security patches or updates will no longer be available meaning you will be far more vulnerable to breaches. Hackers will do whatever they can to exploit vulnerabilities in businesses and so its vital you avoid this.
Security breaches can compromise your businesses network and customers data. The impact of this can include data loss, network failure and legal action. This reason alone should be enough to realise how important it is to update your Windows 7 machines and Windows 2008 servers.
NO SECURITY UPDATES
COMPLIANCE CONCERNS
INNOVATION OPPURTUNITY
Operating Costs
The cost of maintaining outdated hardware and operating systems such as Windows server 2008 can be far more than the price of replacements. These machines are more liable to failure, presenting a much higher security risk. And the cost of downtime because of these events significantly outweighs the cost to replace them.
Legal Risk
By not replacing outdated software you face the risk of heavy fines and legal action. If you are to experience a cyber breach due to still using outdated software, you aren’t complying with industry regulations such as GDPR. Fines can be up to a maximum of 4% annual turnover.
Support
Although vendors can sometimes offer extended maintenance for out of date technology, if they do it is usually very expensive and only available for a limited time.
What if you need a repair? It’s likely that in the event of a software issue you will find it hard to get in touch with any tech support from the vendor to help you out.
Products will slow in performance and be incompatible if not updated or replaced. Windows server 2008 was developed over 10 years ago so is missing new and updated features that have developed since then.
Current & Upcoming End of Life Technology
Below are a list of some current and upcoming technology that will soon be end of life. This means if you are still using any of the below its time to think about updating at the earliest opportunity to avoid vulnerabilities. Need support or advice? We can help.
January 14th 2020
Hyper-V Server 2008
Hyper-V Server 2008 R2
Windows 7
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server 2008
January 31st 2020
Internet Explorer 10
July 14th 2020
Windows MultiPoint Server 2010
(all editions)
September 8th 2020
System Center Service Manager 2010
October 13th 2020
Exchange Server 2010 (all editions)
FAST Search Server 2010 (all editions)
Office 2010 (all editions)
Search Server 2010
System Center DPM 2010
System Center Essentials 2010
Visio 2010 (all editions)
Windows Embedded Standard
April 13th 2021
Project Server 2010
SharePoint Server 2010
Get in touch for windows 7 help
Although your Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 machines may be operating fine we still recommend you start start upgrading to the latest version of Windows before it is too late. The risks mentioned above can cause a series of complications to your business and its workflow.
Get in touch to see if we can help. If we can – we will. Call us on 0333 150 6780, email us on or fill out the contact form below and a member of the team will be in touch.
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