I received an e-mail from Microsoft reminding me to upgrade to Windows 10. 🙂

Windows 7 End of Life is approaching on 14th January 2020.

Are you going to continue to use Windows 7 regardless of the lack of updates? Will you switch to a different OS?

For me Windows 7 is the most comfortable OS to use. I may at a stretch be able to switch to 8/8.1 and use my W7 driver but Windows 10 has not performed comfortably on the majority of devices I have used.

I can't switch to AppleOS because of temporal dithering, I also can't switch to Linux for the same reason.

What OS will you be using in 6 month's time?

    Probably still W7, though I am going to resurrect my old broken laptops and will put different stuff on them.

    I stopped doing Windows updates a couple years ago, so I really don't care if support ends. For the most critical updates, I just manually disabled the problem.. SMB1 and RDP you can disable yourself, you don't need to install a patch.

    Probably a good idea not to run a web browser too far out of date though. I did stop updating my web browser because Waterfox 56.0.1 is super comfortable on my machine and runs fast.

    7 days later

    I have upgraded all my machines to Windows 10 (version 1511, before they added the temporal dithering issue) and used Windows Update Blocker to stop any further updates. By disabling the graphics card drivers (and using Microsoft Basic Display Adapter driver) on my Dell XPS 15 I can use it all day long absolutely no problem. Just in case you need to upgrade someday..

      I'm staying on 7. Windows 10 is unusable and honestly Microsoft should be embarassed by releasing something so terrible as their flagship project.

      You don't really need Microsoft updates, just buy a quality anti virus software platform and that will cover you. 99% of virus and malware infestations come from users not following safe computing practices anyway (clicking on rouge links, accepting downloads they shouldn't, etc), you don't really need them. I used Windows XP well after support was dropped and never had an issue.

      If I ever HAVE to get off the OS I'm going to Linux. I will never use Windows 10 unless they do a MAJOR UI overhaul

      4 days later

      si_edgey where were you able to get a hold of that windows 10 build? All of my current machines are running later builds of windows 10 and are unusable. I just ordered an old amd fx cpu, motherboard and ddr3 ram so I can go back to windows 7 but it would be amazing if I could use current gen hardware.

      Hi there, I'm pretty sure all past versions are available somewhere from Microsoft? If you're struggling then drop me a PM and I will upload it for you, given that you have a license? Happy to help out. Bear in mind that I disable the graphics drivers in device manager also, but it works flawlessly and the benefits of W10 over 7 are well worth it.

      • diop replied to this.

        si_edgey Does the standard W10 driver allow correct monitor resolution and work for gaming/Youtube HD etc? I remember the standard VGA W7 driver had trouble working with a 1080p resolution.

        It's absolutely perfect. I run my laptop at 1080p and the only thing it's pretty much unusable for is gaming. I just enable the drivers (instantly) for that. Videos and general work - photoshop / screen capture / music production - all absolutely fine. I'm on the Dell XPS 9560.

          11 days later

          diop windows 7 is great, but I bought a new CPU+Mobo and didnt realize they dont work with Win 7. Had to upgrade to Win 10. It sucks, but no difference to eye strain. Same monitor and GPU. I use the dithering registry fix, but not sure if its even doing anything.

          • diop replied to this.

            ASonic Which CPU+Mobo? If your Win 10 up to date? and are you using the same driver as your older Win 7 install?

            si_edgey I would like to try that 1511 build - I have a Windows 10 Pro License. Do you have a Dropbox/Google Drive link or e-mail address?

            4 days later

            si_edgey I'd like to try a 1511 build. I can only find it to download from dodgy places. Any chance you could help me? I have a licence for Win10 home, I'd get one for another version if necessary.

            • KM replied to this.

              Edward If you find the official SHA1 checksum of the .iso file, you can make sure the download is legit no matter where you got it from. I don't know where to look for the checksum anymore since Microsoft disabled public database access to their MSDN site at some point, but maybe someone else knows. There must be plenty of trustworthy sites who have archived the checksums.

                KM OK thanks KM. I ended up downloading W10 1511 from getmyos.com
                I got an SHA-1 on the downloaded iso using 7-zip. I googled the SHA-1 and several non-microsoft websites (e.g. windows forums) listed the same value for what appears by names to be the same iso.
                So I think I'm good to try it now.

                15 days later

                si_edgey I'm trying to find a copy of 1511 from the site above but it requires my google drive (I don't have a google account) - I know digital river used to host the MS downloads but am not sure if that is still the case.

                Could this be hosted on dropbox or any alternative links to get it?

                Also, re: security. I assume that with update blocker defender will no longer be updated. So long as I keep my browser up to date and use third party security e.g. malwarebytes/bitdefender - will this build remain secure?

                  By the way, anyone knows if Windows 10 Enterprise 2015 LTSB still won't cause eye strain when fully patched?

                    diop I've uploaded this for you - since these are public and it's not a crack or anything I guess I should be able to post the link here in order to help others, please let me know if this isn't the case.

                    https://bit.ly/2kx9w23

                    I run this version of Windows with all display adapters disabled in Device Manager and I can use my laptop all day long again. The relief is unbelievable. Update to the Creator's update and I immediately feel different - I've tried it a few times but never kept it long enough to rule out placebo or whatever. If it ain't broke...

                    As for Defender, it still updates as usual even with the update blocker enabled.

                    • diop replied to this.

                      si_edgey Thank you but unfortunately I'm getting a 'page not found' error. Maybe you could try to upload it again or do you remember where you got it from originally?

                      If anybody knows of other mirrors and the checksum of a clean 1511 image it would be appreciated. Will definitely test once I get my hands on it.

                      Hmmm - it seems Google aren't happy about it being shared from my Drive. I'll upload it to my own server when I'm back in the house for you. There's nothing wrong with sharing the installer for Windows as far as I'm concerned as long as you have your own license.

                      Just share the checksum, that way you'll be safe and have done nothing wrong since it was publicly shared by MS when the MSDN subscriber downloads were still open to everyone. I only know the LTSB checksum: Filename is en_windows_10_enterprise_2015_ltsb_x64_dvd_6848446.iso and SHA-1 checksum is 264d48c902e6b586a1ed965062f7da4d4da99b35

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