Stubborn Windows 7 users who don't want to upgrade to Windows 10 could cause the next "XP-style support crisis", according to technology journalist and Microsoft watcher Ed Bott. Microsoft will no longer release security updates for Windows 7 from 2020 but the majority of computer is still running the OS.
Therefore Microsoft has about 3 years to get all those loyal Windows 7 users to Windows 10. Currently about 1 out of 3 computers is running Windows 10, while Windows 7 has a market share of 40-48%. When Microsoft offered a free upgrade to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users, the marketshare of Windows 10 rapidly increased. But when that offer expired the number stabilized.
Bott has an idea why users don't upgrade to Windows 10 but stay on Windows 7 as he writes, "most of them are holding on to this aging but still serviceable OS because they understand how to manage it and don't have to deal with the update headaches of Windows as a Service."
Microsoft will need to find a way to convince Windows 7 users to upgrade or they could cause the next XP-style support crisis.
"If the population of Windows 7 users is still hovering in the 40-percent range at the end of 2017, that's a sign of a significant problem on the horizon," Bott argues.
He's referring to the situation with Windows XP. Microsoft ended support of the OS in 2014, meaning computers running the OS no longer receive security updates. Companies can continue to receive security updates if they pay Microsoft for expensive maintenance contracts. Currently there are still millions of computers running the outdated operating system, many without such a maintenance contract, leaving them vulnerable to all kinds of attacks.
A similar situation could also happen to Windows 7 users when Microsoft ends support for the OS in 2020 and also these systems no longer receive security updates.
