Windows 7 was launched on October 22, 2009, and it was the savior operating system that quickly gained O/S share over the previous Windows Vista product. That same year the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” won a Golden Globe and airplane pilot Chesley Sullenberger landed his plane in the Hudson River which became known as the Miracle on the Hudson.
Microsoft products come with a standard 10 years of support. This support is broken into five-year mainstream support, followed by five years of extended support. For Windows 7, the end of extended support is fast approaching. Customers should move to modern Windows 10 before January 14, 2020. Most of my customers have already been testing Windows 10 IoT Enterprise over the past year, however, customers late to the game are still calling me with questions and concerns. At the time of writing this blog, everyone has less than three months and no matter what type of product or which industry, you need to move quickly!
Impact of Windows 7 EOS on Jan 14, 2020
Let’s start with a quick overview of what you lose when extended support ends. First, no more tech support or calling Microsoft for help. Once a product reaches the End of Support timeline, customers need to purchase the Extended Security Update (ESU) program to retain security updates and support for running legacy Microsoft products. I’ll talk more about that option later. Second, no more security patches or hotfixes. That leaves your device vulnerable to security attacks and any bugs discovered later.
In order to continue receiving security updates past January 14, 2020, you’ll need to purchase an ESU license for each device.
Let me clarify a few of the top questions and misconceptions that I get as it pertains to End of Support.
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- “When the End of Support date arrives for Windows 7, my license will expire and won’t work or activate anymore?” False – The licenses are perpetual and do not expire.
- “Microsoft will just wait till the last minute and then they’ll extend the End of Support date.” False
- “My system is licensed with Windows 10 and I’ve downgraded it back to Windows 7. Because I have a Windows 10 license, the support continues for my Windows 7 system.” False – The support will still end for systems running Windows 7.
- “I can still purchase Support for Windows 7 from third-party companies.” False – No third-party companies offer Windows 7 support. Microsoft will offer the Extended Security Update that I’ll talk about later in the blog.
- “The OEM Embedded Windows 7 product is supported five years longer than the regular channel Windows 7 products.” False – All channels have the same End of Support dates but embedded has an additional five years of life on the product.
The biggest confusion starts with End of Life versus End of Support. In the regular channel, Windows 7 went End of Life on October 31, 2016. But in the OEM Embedded IoT Channel, the product has a much longer lifecycle and doesn’t go End of Life until 2024. The 15 years of life can lead to confusion as users don’t understand how a product can have a longer life than its support time frame. But for OEM Embedded IoT devices, many are not connected to the internet and are locked down to where security patches aren’t a priority. For those OEMs, having the extra five years of life is a big lifesaver and gives them additional time to move to Windows 10. Still, most OEMs these days are building intelligent edge connected devices and, for them, they need to move to Windows 10 IoT now.
Can the Windows 7 Extended Support Update program help you?
Microsoft offers an Extended Support Update program as a last resort for customers that can’t move to Windows 10 right now. The Extended Support Update program specifically for Windows Embedded 7 products that you can purchase for 1 year. For the first time in history, Microsoft is making this program available to OEMs through the indirect OEM Embedded Channel, and you can now purchase it from Arrow. In order to purchase the Extend Support Update program for your Windows 7 or Server 2008/2008 R2 products, you’ll need an active CLA “Customer License Agreement” and these requirements:
- MBSA “Microsoft Business & Services Agreement” – a no cost and simple business agreement between you as the OEM and Microsoft.
- EPSO “Ecosystem Partner Services Offering” Service Terms agreement and EPSO Fee Schedule – requires purchasing 100 hours of support each year.
- EPSO Service Terms Schedule ESU “Extended Security Updates” requires purchase and is priced per device with no minimum purchase requirements.
-CLA – Customer License Agreement – No Cost
-MBSA – Microsoft Business & Services Agreement – No Cost
-EPSO Service Terms Schedule – ESU – $ per device – no minimum quantity.
-EPSO – Ecosystem Partner Services Offering agreement and Fee Schedule – Requires 100 hours of support (required for each SKU purchased each year).This is the initial primary expense for starting your ESU support.
If you have no other option but to keep running and supporting your Windows 7 devices, contact us and we can dive into the details, pricing, and agreements.
How does the Extended Support Update program work?
Once the agreements have been signed and approved and you’ve purchased both the 100 hours of support and the ESU license for each device, you’ll receive a single product key. The devices require installation of two Windows updates: (1) an ESU Licensing Update which is the code that includes the logic on how the ESU key functions, and (2) ESU Servicing Stack which allows the device to continue accepting windows updates past the End of Support date of 1/14/2020. You’ll then be required to place this key within each device that requires extended Windows support. The interesting fact is that this is an additional product key and does not replace the product key within the operating system. Instead, it is added as an enabler of the Extended Support Update program. The key does not require any activation and can be added to offline systems if needed. From here, the key is simply the enabler of the ESU Security Updates and in summary, you need three items on your device to ensure it continues receiving updates:
- ESU Licensing Update (must be installed first)
- ESU Servicing Stack Update
- ESU Product Key
For connected Windows Update devices, the two updates are obtained via the Windows Update. For offline devices, you will need to install the updates which will be available on the Microsoft Update Catalog via the offline cumulative update method. Our Arrow engineering team will be available to assist you with technical questions and you’ll have a 100-hour support agreement available in case you run into any issues.
Benefits of Moving to Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2019
According to the most recent market share reports, Windows 7 still has a 32% share on the desktop space. Most customers will plan on skipping Windows 8 and simply move to the latest version of Windows 10. However, with less than three months remaining before the End of Support, it is time to move quickly!
Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2019 is ideal for OEMs needing a secure and reliable high-performance operating system to build their dedicated OEM IoT appliance. It comes with many features that OEMs are looking for, such as the ability to lock the O/S into build 1809 and receive 10 years of support. OEMs do not have to manage Windows updates or worry about new features or new builds of Windows 10 being forced into their device. The product is also licensed based on the processor which opens the door to a lower licensing cost if going with a lower performing processor. Last, you’re given a single product key that can be embedded into your gold image and avoid the hassle of entering different product keys.
There is no better time than now to get started with Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2019. Please visit and subscribe to my YouTube channel for videos that go over the Windows 10 family, as well as the service channels and roadmaps. One last and important note is that OEM customers using Windows Embedded Standard 7 (WES7), get an extra nine months of support as this version receives support until October 13, 2020. OEMs building Point-of-Service devices and using the POSReady 7 product, receive an even longer support timeline of October 12, 2021. Outside of those two editions of Windows 7, all other Windows 7 products lose support on January 14, 2020.
Microsoft publishes all product End of Support dates on their Lifecycle website here.
For customers ready to test Windows 10 and need assistance, including information on the different editions, builds, service channels and licensing, please contact us at Arrow and we’ll get you moving to modern. Contact us at msembedded@arrow.com.
