Ten years after its original release, Microsoft is finally terminating extended support for Windows Vista, the big release of Windows which overhauled the operating system's internals. Mainstream support originally ended back in 2012, but as always, enterprise users and IT professionals were given more time to properly consider their options and migrate their infrastructure to a newer OS. Starting April 11, 2017, no system or security updates will be released for Windows Vista or Internet Explorer 9 (which is the last available Microsoft browser for it). This leaves the system vulnerable to new viruses and existing unpatched threats.
Along with Windows Vista, Microsoft is also retiring Exchange Server 2007, Office Communicator Phone Edition and Office InterConnect 2007. Its own free antivirus product, Microsoft Security Essentials, will also stop receiving new definition updates if running on the unsupported operating system.
According to the latest stats from Net Applications, which tracks operating system usage based on data captured from 160 million unique visitors each month, only 0.72% of PC users worldwide are still running Windows Vista. This is a very small amount compared to even Windows XP which was released 6 years before Windows Vista but is still somehow holding 7.44% usage share.
If you're still running Windows Vista and considering new options for upgrading, you may want to pick the latest Windows 10 release or go with Windows 8.1 or Windows 7. The Creators Update starts rolling out for existing Windows 10 users today, while Windows 7 extended support will end in early 2020. Windows 8.1 will be supported till January 2023.
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I just installed Vista on one of my computers yesterday. At 0.72% I feel like a member of an exclusive club. ;) It was mainly for the attractive appearance that also is functional, unlike the tiring low contrast pale blue, ice blue, white combination of the Windows 7 toolbars and title bar. Until I finally decide on a Linux distro and DE, this should be fine. At least I won’t have to worry about software being removed and default applications being reset along with all the rest of the modern benefits that Windows 10 offers. Yes, that’s sarcasm, I admit it. I have a Windows 10 license but I can’t imagine ever using it.
I originally skipped Vista because it fell so far short of what Longhorn had promised, finally going from XP 64 bit to Windows 8 and Classic Shell. At this point, Vista is a breath of fresh air. Hmm, Toxic 10, Ignoramus Update, coming soon. Sorry, I’m just being nasty today. :)
If you don’t mind keeping your PC offline, then you can just keep running Windows Vista. That’s what I’m about to do on my PC.
How in today’s world you can be functional without internet connection?
If your only PC is running Windows Vista or even older operating systems (like Windows XP), I get that. I’m talking about users with multiple PCs that uses older OSes to run older programs or just to use it to run prerelease software.