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There is a relatively old—though still fundamentally true—adage about Windows: Microsoft's biggest competition is Microsoft, as a specific subset of users (and businesses) only upgrade to the latest version of Windows kicking and screaming. According to SpiceWorks' Future of Network and Endpoint Security report, published Tuesday, 32% of organizations still have at least one Windows XP device connected to their network, despite extended support for XP ending in 2014. (Notably, the last variant of XP, Windows POSReady 2009, reached end of life in April 2019.)
With the looming end of free support for Windows 7, this reticence of users and enterprises to upgrade to newer versions of Windows is likely to create significant security issues. Presently, 79% of organizations still have at least one Windows 7 system on their network, according to SpiceWorks, which also found that two thirds of businesses plan to migrate all of their machines off Windows 7 prior to the end of support on January 14, 2020, while a quarter will only migrate after that deadline.
(Score: 2) by darnkitten on Wednesday July 31 2019, @07:40PM (1 child)
I run a small rural library (town of about 700, service population around 2500). We have4 public access computers (PACs) and 2 staff computers. Everything runs Win7, with F/LOSS software where possible (LibreOffice instead of MS Office, etc). Everything is as secure as we (I) can make it: secure router with segregated wi-fi, no Chrome, IE hidden (there are STILL govt. sites that require IE6 compliance, so we can't remove it completely), Patron-friendly security on Firefox/Pale Moon, default search to Startpage or DDG, anti-malware and automatic clearing of user info, docs, etc. We haven't had an infection in almost a decade.
I'm worried, though, about Win7's EOL. We've experimented with Linux, but unfortunately, though the public catalog is browser-based, the proprietary catalog/ILS software (we are part of a state-run catalog consortium) is Windows only, Linux support having been removed by the company a couple of buyouts ago. We are required to provide PACs, and folks at the State are saying to just bite the bullet and move to 10.
But Win10 is deeply unpopular: the best reaction to it is tolerance, and ranges from there to active hatred--it reminds me of the reaction to Ubuntu's Unity, several years ago, when we tried it out. People have told me they switched to tablet or phone rather than use a Win10 machine given to them. I don't know--I could be reading my own prejudice into the dilemma, but Win10 just does not seem like a good option.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 07 2019, @07:46PM
it may not work, but if it doesn't run afoul of the DRM or some funky cornercase of code, you might be able to run it inside of window and provide it to users that way, saving yourself both the licenses and security concerns of Windows. Whether it will continue working between wine updates and software updates is another matter, but if it doesn't it provides a nice cost savings and reproducible environment.