Windows 7

Thinking of moving on from a Windows 7 laptop? In this guide, we'll cut through the tech specs and show you what has changed in laptops in the many years.

Even as fans mourn the death of Windows 7, the operating system's end-of-life offers new opportunities for Microsoft, Intel, and their OEM hardware partners to profit. As consumers and businesses upgrade this year, they'll also be dazzled by new technologies, like 5G, Wi-Fi 6, and new form factors.

Support for Windows 7 might have ended on January 14, but many are still running the nearly 10-year-old operating system. Many people simply prefer the classic no-nonsense look of Windows 7 and hold it close to their hearts. There's a good reason why, as it saved Microsoft twice. Here's why.

On this episode of Digital Trends Live, we break down the biggest-trending topics of the day, including the end of Windows 7 support, Apple's latest refusal to unlock a cell phone, fallout from the Houston Astros' use of tech to cheat, the effort to choose the Mars Rover's name, and more.

January 14 officially marks the end of support for the Windows 7 operating system, meaning Microsoft will no longer provide free security updates. But, even so, Windows 7 is still much-loved and is the second most popular operating system across the world, ahead of ChromeOS, and MacOS.

Windows 7 is officially dead. At least as far as official support goes. This marks the end of an era that hosted some of our favorite memories of PCs from the last two decades. One of them was the Start menu, which was sleek, streamlined, and, in this writer's opinion, the best Microsoft ever made.

Microsoft will soon be a bit more aggressive in moving users off Windows 7. It will start sending out a full-screen pop-up warning on Windows 7 PCs about the end of support of the operating system come January 2020.

After working with Blizzard to bring DirectX 12 support to World of Warcraft gamers on Windows 7 late last year, Microsoft is now making more resources available for Windows 7 game developers. The move could potentially pave the way for ray tracing support on Windows 7.

Mainstream support for Windows 7 will end in January 2020, but according to new data published by the Russian security firm Kaspersky, many people are still clinging to the nearly 10-year-old Microsoft operating system, especially those in small and medium-sized businesses.  

Statistics show that Windows 7 users could finally be moving away from the aging operating system in favor of Windows 10. In July 2019, Windows 7's market share of the personal computer market fell roughly 3.6% --- one of the largest drops in the history of the operating system. 

In March, Microsoft announced it would send Windows 7 users an on-screen "courtesy reminder" about the incoming end of support of the operating system. Now several months later on July 22, the "reminder" has started appearing on computer screens — suggesting the Windows 7 extinction process has started.

Windows 7 gamers are finally getting the performance boost with DirectX 12 support on the platform. Microsoft announced that it is bringing DirectX 12 support in a more limited fashion to Windows 7 by working with specific game developers. The first title to benefit is World of Warcraft on Windows 7.

Are you one of the millions of people still running Windows 7 on your PC or laptop? If so, you might soon see a dismissable pop-up message from Microsoft appear on your computer screen, letting you know that the January 14, 2020 end of Windows 7 support is approaching.

There's less than a year left until Microsoft ends extended support for Windows 7. With that deadline approaching, the company has announced its pricing for businesses and enterprises that still want to run the nearly ten-year-old operating system and stay secure with the latest security updates after 2020.

If you're one of the many still holding on to the nearly nine-year-old Windows 7 OS, it might be time for an upgrade. Microsoft is set to end extended support for Windows 7 on January 14, 2020, putting a halt on the free bug fixes, and security patches for most who have the operating system installed. 

Microsoft can rejoice as users begin moving on from Windows 7, increasing Windows 10's overall market share to 39.2 percent worldwide. With support for Windows 7 scheduled to be axed in 2020, Windows 10 remains the best option for the majority of PC users.

A new concept video for an imagined 2018 edition of Windows 7 has fans of the classic operating system wishing it would become a reality. The clean Windows 7 layout with Windows 10 aesthetics makes for a potent blend of simplicity and beauty and offers a great companion to the creator's other videos.

Microsoft reportedly fixed an issue on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 that enabled applications to access all data stored in memory.

Microsoft said that subscribers to its Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection subscription service will see Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 support starting this spring. This has nothing to do with Windows Defender on mainstream Windows 10 PCs.

Lenovo's Fingerprint Manager Pro for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 suffers from insecure credentials storage and needs to be updated as soon as possible.

The latest Steam numbers released by Valve Software show a heavy rise in the use of Windows 7 and Simplified Chinese. PUBG may be the culprit.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds may be to blame for the recent resurgence of the Windows 7 operating system on Steam.