German authorities are waking up to a Windows 7 headache, with approximately €800,000 required in order to keep the elderly software supported a little longer.
Microsoft had long been warning users, both enterprises and individuals, that the end of support was nigh - 14 January - and made available various ways of keeping those updates flowing.
Alternatively there is always the option of a migration to Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) with three years of free-ish support (because, y'know, you still have to pay for those Azure resources).
Finally, customers that had ponied up the cash for an E5 subscription could also be entitled to an extra year of Windows 7 security updates, through to 2021 (assuming the subscription stays active).
Blighty's very own NHS is an example of just such an organisation, having splashed the cash for some E5 goodness.
The position in which the German government now finds itself might raise a wry smile somewhere in Seattle.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Saturday January 25 2020, @05:30PM
Thanks. That's an update over what I found later. If mine stops getting these magical updates (might be piggybacking on the system's corporate origins) and if Simplix doesn't update to include 'em, it's a thought. (SImplix is a maintained unofficial Service Pack 2; get it from MajorGeeks.)
It does require some prior patching:
https://lifehacker.com/how-to-extend-your-windows-7-security-updates-past-janu-1840313094 [lifehacker.com]
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.