Can I use Windows 7 after Jan 2023?

You can use Windows 7 as long as you like, but ...

After January 14, 2020, Microsoft stopped providing security updates for Windows 7.

Any application program that is regularly updated will, sooner or later, no longer work on Windows 7. For example, if you use Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, etc.), you won't be able to use versions newer than Office 2016.

The fact that Microsoft will end support for Windows 8.1 in January 2023 has nothing to do with Windows 7. And eventually newer versions of applications will no work on Windows 8.1, just like the situation with Windows 7.

yes your software will continue to work after 2023. Also there's this extended kernel being worked on for windows 7 which will allow you to run unsupported software on windows 7 it's still early in development so you can't really run that much unsupported software but eventually you will be able to run lot's of unsupported software on windows 7!

There is no end date for Windows 7. As long as the hardware holds up AND the software you want to use still works, there is nothing stopping you from continuously using it.

Key reasons it is likely to come to end of life for you"

• Hardware failure
• Antivirus software no longer available
• Browser you want to use no longer works.

Maintain a careful posture when exposing it to the web or anyone else. Keep the hardware running well. If the hard drive is old, replace it and re-install Windows.

Nobody (almost nobody?) here is from Microsoft; this is a peer support forum. We are all just users of this version of Windows here, helping each other if and when we can. We are not Microsoft employees (not even those of us with "Microsoft MVP" behind our names; that's an honorary title for having provided consistently helpful advice) except for an occasional Microsoft contractor or employee.

You can use Windows 7 as long as you want to, but note that if you want to run newer programs, or newer versions of old programs, they may not be compatible with Windows 7. Also some newer hardware may not be compatible with Windows 7, so be wary of buying new printers, etc. without first checking their compatibility.

Are you running Windows 7 or 8.1? Your message doesn't make that clear. If your Windows version is no longer supported, you should be sure to run third-party security software that is kept up to date.

One of these days, you will undoubtedly yearn for some new piece of software are hardware that you can't use on your Windows version and you will probably need to get a new version of Windows (or more likely a new computer, because your old computer won't be compatible with the new version of Windows). Also one of these days, your computer will die and need to be replaced. A Windows 7-era is already very old and is unlikely to last much longer.

If you are are running Windows 7, you are running a computer that's four versions old (8, 8.1, 10, 11). That means your Windows knowledge is way out of date, and getting further out of date every day. For the sake of argument, let's say Windows 12 comes out and then your compute dies and needs to be replaced. If you buy a new computer that comes with Windows 12, your knowledge will be *five* versions out of date, and catching up is likely to be very hard for you. For that reason I think it's a bad mistake for almost everyone to run such an old version. Stay reasonably up to date and changes will be much easier to make when you need to make them.

I have 50 clients who use win7 every day. So far, there are very few issues you need to be overly concerned with. Except:

Be diligent about where you go on the web

Be cautions about downloads

Keep a top-end antivirus program up to date.

Do regular backups

If your system is 32 bit it has a shorter potential life.