The End for Windows Vista
No more support for Windows Vista
It is ten years since the Windows Vista operating system was launched and this week on April 11 2017 Microsoft finally withdrew support.
Vista users will no longer receive security updates that can help protect PCs from harmful viruses, spyware, and other malicious software that can steal personal information.
When it was launched, Vista was supposed to revolutionise Windows because of its new file system and user interface. But the new system was “graphically intense” and took up a lot of space, especially on laptops. It was also too much for many netbooks.
Users complained about file transfers being slower than Windows XP, video games were sluggish, and on-screen prompts constantly pestered PC owners.
Vista reportedly became one of the most disliked software packages, especially when compared with Windows XP, which was two years older than Vista.
At the time, Microsoft was criticised for failing to understand customers’ needs and for not listening to them.
While those who still have Vista on their machines will still be able to run it, they should be aware that they will no longer be protected and if they store sensitive information, where security is important they should consider changing to a different operating system.
They may also find that their PCs will no longer work with other hardware, such as printers, scanners and cameras that have been manufactured to be compatible with more recent operating systems.
If you want to find out about the life cycles for support on other Windows operating systems there’s a fact sheet here
If you want help to upgrade to a newer system Colchester IT can assess whether your existing computer hardware is powerful enough to cope as Windows 10, for example, is very power-hungry needs at least 1GB of RAM, between 16 GB and 20 GB of free storage, and a display with a resolution of at least 800 x 600 pixels.
Call us for advice and to help you through the process of upgrading.
