If you’re one of the many who have resisted moving from Windows 7 to (the mess that was) Windows 8, (the slightly better) Windows 8.1, or (the oddly numerated) Windows 10, your time is growing short. There’s just a year left of free support for Windows 7, meaning that official support for the Microsoft operating system is coming to an end. Unless you’re willing to pay for a little more support, that is.

Extended support for Windows 7 comes to an end on 14 January 2020, at which time Microsoft will no longer be providing security and other updates for the ageing OS. But… there are options for those who really cannot let go (and considering that Windows 10 users have only just bypassed Windows 7 users, there are a lot of you). Microsoft is offering a series of paid Extended Security Update (ESU) packages that Ars Technica reports will be “…offered uniformly to all volume license customers of Windows 7 Professional and Enterprise”.

But hanging onto your Windows 7 installation will probably cost you — the ESU options will extend the supported life of Windows 7 up to 2023 but the payment for those updates will increase each year. It’s great for companies and organisations who are unable to quickly transition away from an operating system, less so for people who just don’t want to use Windows 10 yet.

A similar deal is being offered for users of Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2, both of which have just under a year of support left to go. There will be three (escalating in cost) years of optional ESUs for both — or you could do what Microsoft is obviously keen on and switch to something a little more recent. Based on how reluctant folks were to let go of Windows XP, that’s probably easier said than done.

Source: Ars Technica