14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 7 no longer receives updates since January 14, so users who refuse the upgrade to Windows 10 must embrace other ways to secure their devices.
One of the most common things that users do these days is install security software, such as an antivirus product, but given Windows 7 is out of support, many are concerned that such applications themselves would stop working on this operating system.
A list put together by German antivirus test organization AV-TEST shows that most antivirus products will continue to support Windows 7 for at least two more years, including here industry leaders like Bitdefender, Kaspersky, McAfee, and Symantec.
The full list is embedded in the box at the end of the article.
Browsers also continue to support Windows 7
What’s worth knowing, on the other hand, is that Microsoft’s Security Essentials, which is offered as a free antivirus for Windows 7, no longer receives new features and program updates. Virus definitions are still available, and the software giant is yet to announce a deadline as to when it wants to stop shipping this to devices running Windows 7.
In other words, you can continue to run Microsoft Security Essentials on a Windows 7 computer, but you should begin considering the switch to a newer Windows version as soon as possible anyway.
Antivirus products aren’t the only ones not giving up on Windows 7 anytime soon. Browsers will also support the retired operating system going forward, including Google Chrome, Vivaldi, and the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge. All three browsers are expected to stop receiving updates on Windows 7 in July 2021.
This means that despite Windows 7 no longer get updates from Microsoft, the operating system won’t just go dark all of a sudden, and the millions of computers still running it have plenty of apps to choose from until they upgrade.