Why you should not use Windows 7

Our company still has customers with Windows 7 but these computers are not connected to the Internet and they don’t have any kind of local network. Moreover, it is not possible to bring any kind of stage storage device to them and access is strictly controlled. In these conditions, it is probably ok to still use Windows 7 especially if there is some specific software that is certified only for Windows 7.

But to my surprise, it turns out that many people are still using Windows 7 while their computers are connected to the internet. And they not only use it but they state that it is the best option to do and recommend others to do the same. They state that this is a mature operating system that does not require any patches and it is safe to use.

At first glance, their arguments look valid but they are completely wrong. The Windows 7 was released in 2009. It means that Microsoft started collecting requirements for it in around 2007.

Two-core CPUs popups in 2006 and a quad-core was available only as an extreme option. Single-core CPUs were a majority of the CPU market. As a result, Microsoft probably designed Windows 7 for quad-cores and as an extreme version for 8 cores. But today 12 cores is an absolute minimum. Most modern CPUs have at least 16 cores and many desktop CPUs have from 24 to 48 cores. Extreme versions will have up to 256 cores on the desktop.

Remember that any software is full of compromises. For example, if you write a task scheduler for 4 cores, probably searching a core in a regular list will be just fine. But if you design a system that can have 128 or even more cores, then probably you need to use completely different data structures.

I read about issues in Windows 10 that too many threads waiting to zero memory because so many cores weren’t common in 2013 when Microsoft started work in Windows 10. Nobody expected that the number of cores would go so fast because 4 to 8 cores were the norm in 2013.

The internet speeds in 2007 were around 1 to 5 megabits and you need to pay for traffic. If a hacker took over your computer and tried to attack other computers from it, you would immediately feel it because your speed would be quite slow.

VPN was really rare and it was hard for hackers to hide behind it. Now internet speeds over 1 GB are quite affordable. Many people will simply not feel that their computer is controlled by a hacker and used for attacks on different computers. And today there are so many ways to hide your true location for a very reasonable price.

When I created a public web server several months ago, I was attacked pretty much instantly. All kinds of bots accessing my web server for files I never had like phpadmin, etc. This way automatic tools can find vulnerabilities automatically by scanning every computer on the the internet. It is a lot of traffic but modern internet speeds are fast and traffic is cheap.

Moreover, right now hackers have automated systems (called Fuzzing) that are trying to call different Windows services with random data. Any crash will be automatically analyzed and a hacker will receive just a list of potential vulnerabilities that they can explore and potentially exploit. It wasn’t the case in 2007 when virtual machines were quite rare and slow. It was still possible to do but will take way more time.

And a few years ago, Windows XP source code was leaked and Windows 7 is much closer to Windows XP than to Windows 10. This will give hackers a chance to find new vulnerabilities to exploit.

But why Microsoft is not fixing all new vulnerabilities in Windows 7? Any software developer knows how hard to support old and new software at the same time. Source code quickly diverges too much and eventually, any fix must be implemented separately for old and new versions and there will not be much common code.

This greatly increases the time for verifying and testing. And it is not free and costs a lot of money. At a certain moment when most customers were moved to new versions it simply has no financial sense to support the old version. And if you port most changes to an old version, then who will buy a new version?

And lastly, there are more and more applications that simply do not work properly on Windows 7. The application may start fine but crash later. In extreme cases, it can corrupt your files or your data because some developer forgot to check the error code properly.

All of the above should tell you that it is quite a bad idea to use Windows 7 which has not been supported for more than 4 years. It was designed at completely different times with absolutely different threats in mind. Now it is obsolete and inadequate.

To be honest, I don’t know why people trying to save Windows XP or Windows 7. I understand why people prefer to stay on Windows XP and do not upgrade to Windows Vista. I also understand why people like Windows 7 more than Windows 8.

But Windows 10 is a completely adequate and modern operating system that is still supported by Microsoft. It is much more safe and it is designed to withstand all modern challenges.

To me, people who like Windows 7 look like people who prefer steam engine trains. They were quite good and progressive at their time, but now they are simply outdated and extremely ineffective. And as a result, there is no point in using them.

Don’t cry for old times and instead explore new opportunities. I know that sometimes it is scary but we all have to move on with life instead of hiding in the shadow of well-known things.