Windows 7 ESU customers to continue receiving security updates after 14th January 2020

Microsoft will be bringing support for Windows 7 to an end on 14^th January 2020 so customers who continue to use the operating system after this date will be more vulnerable to viruses and security risks due to a lack of security updates.

However, Microsoft has confirmed that customers from the Windows 7 Extended Security Updates (ESU) program will continue to receive security updates, even after Windows 7 reaches end-of-life on 14th January 2020. There was a little confusion about the continuation of security updates for Windows 7 ESU customers after the FAQ on the Windows support pages seemed to contradict what Microsoft has previously said about Windows 7 ESU support.

The FAQ said “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.” Which confused a few people. Microsoft has cleared up the confusion now after a thread on the Microsoft Tech Community pages specifically asked the question about whether Extended Support subscribers would continue to receive updates.

Microsoft engineer Mike Cure replied to the Microsoft Tech Community thread by saying “MSE will continue to receive signature updates after Jan. 14.” To completely clear up any confusion the Windows 7 Extended Security FAQ was updated a couple of days later and now reads: “Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) will continue to receive signature updates after January 14, 2020. However, the MSE platform will no longer be updated.”

So for users who are unable to switch to newer versions of the operating system such as Windows 10, will still receive security updates after 14^th January 2020 as long as they are willing to pay for extended security updates.

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KitGuru says: If you are still using Windows 7 and not paying for the privilege of extended security updates, it might be time to upgrade to an up to date operating system such as Windows 10 to avoid being at risk of security issues or viruses in the new year.

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