14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is projected to retire Windows 7 in January next year, which means that the operating system would no longer receive security updates for the found vulnerabilities.
Earlier this month, a support document published by Microsoft for customers purchasing extended support for Windows 7 indicated that updates for Microsoft Security Essentials would be pulled as well, even for those paying for more updates.
Microsoft Security Essentials is Microsoft’s free antivirus that can be installed on Windows 7.
But according to a recent thread on Microsoft’s own forums, Security Essentials will continue to receive virus definitions even after Windows 7 is retired, albeit the security product wouldn’t get any other patches. In other words, feature updates and other improvements would be halted, so sooner or later, migrating to a newer application is the only way to go anyway.
Windows 7 set to go dark on January 14
“Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) will continue to receive signature updates after January 14, 2020. However, the MSE platform will no longer be updated,” a Microsoft engineer said in a reply to Woody Leonhard of AskWoody. “I'll get this corrected as soon as possible.”
The document currently receives:
“Will Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) continue to protect my computer after the end of support? No, your Windows 7 computer is not protected by MSE after January 14, 2020. MSE is unique to Windows 7 and follows the same lifecycle dates for support.”
Microsoft recommends users to upgrade Windows 7 devices to Windows 10, the latest version of its operating system that comes with antivirus protection pre-loaded. Windows Defender is an evolved version of Microsoft Security Essentials that includes a bunch of extra tools, including ransomware protection and a cloud-based analysis engine.
Windows 7 support will end on January 14, so the next round of updates will be the last one of the 2009 operating system.