So, what will you use after W7 support is done?

[Thehandyman1957]

So as you all know, there has been some very colorful discussions about XP's end of life and what people will do because of this.
And we have beaten that horse to death. But one question some of us old XP holdouts have asked is,

What will you do when W7 hits this stage? And though it may seem a bit early to think about this,
it's actually less than 3 1/2 years away. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/hel ... fact-sheet

Here is a link to a cool little count down timer.
http://www.eventcalc.com/cntd.html?d=q4 ... %20Support

I know some of you have moved on to the newer OP's but there is a big crowd of W7 users that feel about
W10 the way some of us XP users feel about W7. And I am rather curious what you think you might do once
this shoe is on your foot.

Will you continue to just use it anyway? Will you upgrade to a newer Windows? Or perhaps Linux?

Also, I'm not just doing this for kicks and giggles. I think many of us out here could benefit from some shared thoughts on this topic.

I for one have given serious thought to using W7, but know that it won't be long before W7 is at the XP stage.

Tell us what you think.

[Nigaikaze]

I've already switched over to Linux (specifically, Mint KDE 17.3) for the majority of my day-to-day computer usage. I'm at the point now where I boot into Win7 only once or twice a month at most, and it's usually in order to help extended family members troubleshoot their Windows problems or for Pale Moon beta testing on Windows.

[ron_1]

Well, I wouldn't have minded upgrading to Windows 8.1 (not much, anyway). But with all the shenanigans Microsoft pulled with Windows 10 updates, and all the extra spying 10 does, it totally turned me off of using it. I switched to Linux Mint (Mate DE) quite a while ago and really like it. I didn't initially plan on switching so soon as there's still three and a half years to go for 7, as you have said, but all the constant watching for updates, the reappearance of hidden updates, etc., just pushed me to something else.

Now I do have one dedicated Windows 7 machine, not connected to the Internet, for the one program I can't do without. As it's not connected to the Internet, I don't need to worry about installing updates or running a firewall or AV (and boy it runs fast without them, even on a conventional hard drive). Maybe one day, if this Window 7 machine dies, I'll run 7 in a virtual box in Mint.

My advice to anyone hesitant to upgrade Windows is to try Linux Mint out. It can't hurt anything, and you just might find you like it. And if you can't do without a certain Windows program or two, you can always run Windows (XP, 7, whatever) in a virtual box and not have to worry about malware hurting your host Linux system, nor the guest Windows OS, as it "refreshes" (right word?) itself on every boot.

[New Tobin Paradigm]

Fedora for me with Red Hat Visualization technology.. I can run a modified version of Windows 7 indefinitely which I am in the active process of transitioning to.

[mseliger]

I've switched to Lubuntu. With Wine / Play On Linux even Microsoft Office 2003 works well. No need for any Windows Version more.

[Moonraker]

I switched to linux lite months ago.Windows is a distant memory now.

[Trippynet]

I'll continue to use Windows 7 for the time being. 3 1/2 years is a long while, and I imagine Windows 10 (or whatever it is then) will have changed from now. Will it have changed to a level I feel I can use it? Not sure. However, I'm sure by then there'll be plenty of 3rd party apps that can fix a lot of the issues with it. Or maybe take-up will continue to be below Microsoft's expectations and they'll change things, who knows.

Remember, for a few years Microsoft was pushing Windows 8's interface as the future, and they have shown that with enough prolonged negative feedback and slower than expected uptake that they can change their plans. So personally, I'll be waiting to see what happens before making any judgements\changes.

[TwoTankAmin]

I will stay with Windows 7 a good deal longer. If Microsoft fails to make certain basic changes to Windows 10, I will never use it. But it is possible they will change their stance on automatic updates, telemetry, changing one's settings and advertising. But I doubt it. So, somewhere along the line, I assume I will move to Linux. Initially I would want to have a duel boot system so I can learn whatever Linux flavor I choose and still use Win 7 until I can.

What I wonder about this in relation to past unsupported versions of Windows. According to NetMarketShare for July 2016 10.34% of desktops OS were windows XP and 21.34 were Windows 10. I thing a hacker etc. wanting to hit a system with XP ot 10 would choose XP as the easier target? So where are all the stories about XP security breaches etc.? Why are these machines not being compromised like crazy? I assume there are no new drivers being made for XP? I must be not understanding something here.

Is it possible Win7 will be an even bigger hold out than XP? Extended support for XP ended 2 1/3 years ago and it still has over a 10% share. That would translate into August 2022 for Win 7. Who knows what Windows 10 or the rest of the world of technology will look like by then?

The nice thing about this thread is it points up the fact that there may not be that much immediate urgency to leave Win7. I think I have a number of years to decide to act.

[Andrew Gilbertson]

Off-topic:

So, somewhere along the line, I assume I will move to Linux. Initially I would want to have a duel boot system so I can learn whatever Linux flavor I choose and still use Win 7 until I can.

I recommend installing Linux on a laptop or secondary system and using it side-by-side with your Windows system until you feel sufficiently up to speed on the Linux side of things. That way you get don't frustrated at having to reboot every time "oh I can't do X on Linux" (or just "oh I don't know how to do X and web searches make it seem complicated") comes up and wasting a bunch of time waiting through the reboot cycle.

[TwoTankAmin]

I recommend installing Linux on a laptop or secondary system and using it side-by-side with your Windows system

Unlike most folks on this site, I only own one device, a PC. I have never owned a laptop, tablet or smartphone. So its dual boot or boot from a cd. However, my hard drive has 165 GB used and 766 GB free, so space is not an issue.

[petrus]

Just switched from XP to 7 recently, and don't plan to do any more switching for at least half a decade!

But I do hope that Pale Moon will be still around then in 2021, when we can continue this discussion.

[Moonchild]

I'll see what my options are when we get closer to end of official support for it. No need to worry about that right now.

[_Poke_]

This current PC I have will probably stay on Win7, maybe even a little while past end of support - simply because I don't really see any point updating it. If I were to get a new PC within the next year or so I'd be installing Win8.1, but past that point I'd probably bite the bullet and try force Win10 to do my bidding.

I have played with Linux a little, as well as PCBSD (a friendly desktop for FreeBSD), and while I can see it being fine for basic tasks like web browsing it really takes too much work to make it behave. Perhaps that is just because I haven't given it the chance, but you can only really learn through use and I don't feel confident using them for anything as-is.
On the other hand, Win10 may be trying to learn & sell all my secrets but there are tools to stop that, and the OS underneath all the fluff is still mostly the same.

Off-topic:
In my PCBSD VM, while I was experimenting, I think I managed to permanently destroy the desktop "activity" - some kind of thing similar to a virtual desktop? Except different because they also exist. I never managed to get the original activity back, and that desktop environment (KDE?) didn't seem to let me move things to the desktop in the same way that Windows treats the desktop as a folder. Maybe related to the kind of activity I started in it's place? So I just had to put up with no desktop icons and running everything from the start menu equivalent. Of course if this was my actual OS I would've tried a little harder to solve my mistake, but it was just bizarre that there was no intuitive way to fix it.

[JodyThornton]

Well, I wouldn't have minded upgrading to Windows 8.1 (not much, anyway). But with all the shenanigans Microsoft pulled with Windows 10 updates, and all the extra spying 10 does, it totally turned me off of using it. I switched to Linux Mint (Mate DE) quite a while ago and really like it. I didn't initially plan on switching so soon as there's still three and a half years to go for 7, as you have said, but all the constant watching for updates, the reappearance of hidden updates, etc., just pushed me to something else.

Just move to Windows 8 (original), and do without the spying/telemetry stuff and GWX nags (in fact you're worse off in that respect on Windows 7).
And yes, Windows 8 is out of support as of last January, but updates from Server 2012 go onto it nicely. I'm seven months into doing that without a hitch.

Classic Shell takes me to the desktop, hides Metro crap and Windows 8 runs quite briskly. Probably the second best experienc on the machine since XP x64 Edition.

[LimboSlam]

Well I've already experienced Windows 10 Pro x64 and will only keep one PC with it installed (testing/troubleshooting, familiarization reasons). So my best reasonable option would be Windows 8.1 Pro x64 because it offers more/most of the customization options with less tracking techniques. Not to mention I have tweaked a few things, either by registry hacks (offered by Tomaso guide) and third-party programs. I will go ahead and list those few programs which bring back familiar and more functionality to Windows 8.1:

Classic Shell: http://www.classicshell.net/
7+ Taskbar Tweaker: http://rammichael.com/7-taskbar-tweaker
Aero Glass: http://www.glass8.eu/
Ultimate Windows Tweaker: http://www.thewindowsclub.com/ultimate- ... -windows-8


NOTE: These tools are used at your own risk, so be careful and please be experienced.

[theelf]

Im still on XP... I think i will need to answer this question in maybe 3/4 years?

Seriusly, when xp will be really impossible to use anymore in everyday needs, maybe i will jump to Windows 8.1. I have it in a tablet... and at least is "usable"

I dont like the explorer, not in 7, 8.1 or 10 sadly. I wish i can keep my explorer from xp on 7 or 8.1

[JodyThornton]

Use Explorer++ on Windows 7 or 8x. I've used it since Vista. It provides a very XP-esque appearance for file management.
Here it is on Windows 8.

Explorer++.jpg

[dark_moon]

I use Win7 until 2020 and then i will see if Windows is usable or not.

[Tomaso]

My Windows 8.1 Pro tweak notes (Last updated on Sep.21.2016):

Windows8.1Pro-TweakNotes-(2016-09-21).zip

This also includes a list of Windows updates to avoid (WindowsUpdate-MysteryUpdatesToAvoid!.txt).
NOTE:
I don't recommend for people to disable anything in Windows, unless they have a certain degree of understanding as to what the consequences might be.
Some of the stuff that power users find really annoying are there to protect the "average" users from messing up their systems!

[dark_moon]

My Windows 8.1 Pro tweak notes (Last updated on Aug.13.2016):
http://www.mediafire.com/download/hyg0g ... -13%29.zip

Maybe you can add this just here on the forum as attachment?