With Six Months Left, Microsoft Provides New Windows 10 Deployment Assistance
No matter how many times you wish upon a star, Windows 7 end of life is happening in January and there isn’t much you can do about it. Microsoft is holding firm on this date and if you haven’t started your migration process to Windows 10, you are quickly running out of time.
Specifically, January 14th of 2020, Windows 7 will reach its end of support window which means no new patches, updates, or anything else will be released for the operating system*. The asterisk is there because, despite the fact that Windows XP has long been left behind, Microsoft has shipped patches for that OS in critical scenarios.
That being said, you shouldn’t expect Microsoft to ship updates for Windows 7 and if you are running the OS after January, it will show up on an IT audit report for being out of compliance. And to help those of are running behind, Microsoft has created new FastTrack deployment guidance for Windows 10.
If you are purchasing more than 150 Windows licenses, you will be eligible to connect directly with a Microsoft specialist to help you to create a technical plan, determine how to onboard and deploy new services and/or users, and work with you as you deploy to get the most value out of your technology investments; you can learn more about the program here.
Don’t get me wrong, the assistance for those migrating to the new OS is a positive step for Microsoft but why…now? Microsoft has been beating the migration drum not long after the release of Windows 10 back in 2015 and with six months left to migrate, they are only now rolling out the migration assistance in the FastTrack program.
If you are in the process of moving a large estate from Windows 7 to 10, it’s likely in your best interest to jump into the program to get assistance at no additional cost. But for those of you running smaller operations, you still need to migrate but additional support may cost extra.