Is This Finally The End Of The Windows 7 Insanity

[@34638a]

Hey Brodie, I actually have an insight on a case for this. We have a single windows 7 PC that we must maintain because of our CAD package. We paid out the equivalent of a kidney for a one seat lifetime license to the package, and 4 years later it was bought out by Autodesk who immediately sunset the auth servers within a few months ( *insert screaming here* ) so basically we were SOL if the thing ever breaks. Being autodesk, they didn't do jack to support us through the transition and told us to pound sand when we asked for a equivalent upgrade path. Ironically, if we paid out again, we'd be in the same spot these days due to their move to subscription only packages. We have triplicate backups of the windows 7 install as full disk clones because we can't actually update to 10 or 11 without the software bricking itself, we've tried. Perks of being an Australian Engineer I guess 🤷‍♂

[@NightDescendant]

what's special about your CAD package that other options don't have?

[@mercuriete]

Are you able to set up a Virtual Machine? Or the application only works on baremetal? Do you try something like wine/proton + dxvk to test if that app work? Probably dx9 era app could work on Linux, I hope.

[@MegaLokopo]

@@NightDescendant If you spent more than 10 grand for a lifetime license would you be happy if it only worked for 4 years?

[@itdepends604]

please tell Louis Rossmann about this

[@34638a]

@@MegaLokopo so you have a rough idea because I dont remember the exact year, nor what the final price was other than the number was very hard to stomache for a small business; we're talking ~2007-2008 Australian buckoroos so multiply by 1.5 + a but ton of inflation since then, but it was somewhere between $6-8k + $1-1.5k upkeep fee for the first year as a part of the lifetime licence.

[@psiryan]

You have to give these people some credit; die-hard Linux users had been doing the exact same thing for decades to make various drivers and programs work on their distro. I almost wonder if they are really only doing it for the challenge at this point; that they keep running Win7 because it's hard and a challenge to maintain.

[@nickalotdegit]

Yes: This. Absolutely agree.

[@mgord9518]

Probably, but it isn't conscious

[@theretromillennial]

Yes, but I think for the more hardcore users it’s done out of spite. 50% passion, 50% rage at this point.

[@cat-le1hf]

@@theretromillennial i angrily ran windows 7 for while into windows 10 until microsoft molested my computer and forced an update somehow

[@lexcelius6921]

​​@@cat-le1hfthat is why I always made sure to fully Shut down my Computer back then, because they did that to Users who would let their PC go to Standby or put it in Sleep mode instead of fully Powering down. I'm a Linux user now but even to this day while I don't have to worry about that on Linux. I always press Shut down Instead of Sleep and always make sure to turn my PC off when I leave the house or go to Bed only Powering it on when I can watch it like a Hawk .

[@CodexSan]

There's also an API called DX12on7. That literally let's you run dx12 games on Windows 7. Yes, There's people playing Cyberpunk 2077 on a Windows 7 machine.

[@izanami3793]

Legit? I wonder what kind of techno voodoo they had to do to make that even work...

[@CodexSan]

@izanami3793 I don't know, nor have I ever tested it. All I know is that FitGirl tends to include that API in some of the releases. 🤷‍♂️

[@cameronbosch1213]

How is it not violating the Windows EULA!? Even if it wasn't, these people are freaking insane!

[@VictoriaBritish47]

Yes I see

[@CodexSan]

@@cameronbosch1213 12on7 is a Microsoft legitimate API intended for game developers to backport games to Windows 7. You can sue Microsoft then, and tell them they're breaking their own licenses. (Even though it's a binary API) Surely support for it was dropped with the death of Windows 7. But that doesn't mean that people can't use it anymore.

[@Drazil100]

With the amount of hackey workarounds win 7 users go though to continue using win 7 Linux would be easy. This is a level of hackery people meme about Linux users needing.

[@MegaManNeo]

I'm not alone thinking this. Thank you.

[@leonidas14775]

People have valid reasons: Their hardware doesn't have driver support on newer windows versions or linux. They want to run an old windows-only program with more certainty it will run properly than using wine. Their PC is too slow to run modern windows or linux at an acceptable speed. They have expensive software that connects to long dead DRM activation servers when setting up

[@Drazil100]

@@leonidas14775Those use cases are fair… but you know a lot of people aren’t on it for a valid reason. A disappointing number of people are using it for no other reason than they want to.

[@ThePlayerOfGames]

And then it turns out you needed less hackiness on Linux because memes are really only memes

[@ajddavid452]

​@@leonidas14775Modern Linux still supports the Pentium 1, so I highly doubt any computer compatible with windows 7 wouldn't be compatible with Linux

[@DarkusObscurius]

There's ppl here in Brazil still using Windows XP. When windows 8.1 was released i found a guy who stills uses Windows 3.11, i was really impressed, and he even browsed the internet and used for work.

[@xamp_exclammark]

I live in brazil and i used windows 7 up until 2019,i was young and really didn't know about the support date.If i didn't get my first win 10 laptop for my birthday i would have probably used windows 7 all the way until support was over in 2020.

[@stefanalecu9532]

...how do you even use Windows 3.11 for internet use? You might get away (barely) with Windows 98/2000... maybe, but 3.11? That's impressive.

[@GabrielTobing]

Dude windows 8 was so horrible man

[@neomaster341]

​@@stefanalecu9532 Windows 3.11 supported up to IE5 which dropped in 1999, and Web 1.0 wasn't as dead in 2013 as it is now. So that setup might've been downright usable, sorta.

[@etdr]

I'm sure there are some PC bangs (Internet cafes) in Korea still using XP though it's not as bad as it used to be

[@BaDitO2]

the mind of a windows 7 user: they want windows without the bullshit. end of story

[@ikcikor3670]

It's such a shame the company owning windows doesn't doesn't want to let them have that. If only there were operating systems which ensure such thing can never happen

[@electricindigoball1244]

It's simply not possible. If you're using Windows you have to play by MS's rules. That includes watching your OS rot as hardware/software stops supporting it after MS ends support. The only way to break away from that is to migrate to Linux. Being a Windows holdout was always a false choice.

[@Wkaelx]

that means a sane person.

[@SananeNapcanAmq]

Except you can use something like a LTSC to have windows without the bullshit, and that would be way more up-to-date and stable than whatever this is.

[@burtonrodman]

"wanting" doesn't mean you _should_. running Windows 7 in 2024 is like going into a Level 4 Biolab and licking the floor. :facepalm:

[@amocanu3000]

Brody: When was the last time you used Windows 7? Me: 2 Hours ago on a buddy's CNC machine :))

[@dashcharger24]

@@amocanu3000 Please tell us it's not connected to the internet.

[@amocanu3000]

@@dashcharger24 The whole thing is air-gapped. It runs a minimal version of Windows 7 (Windows Embedded 7 actually) that only runs the CNC software, a minimal desktop and a couple of approved binaries, even the filesystem is cleared/reset on reboot (I think it's loaded from a ROM into a RAM disk on boot).

[@salamiwallnut]

​​@@amocanu3000that's some admirable stuff

[@cat-le1hf]

i have a MS-DOS laptop just for the old CNC machine

[@le9038]

Are you friends with @34638a. You have just made a very similar comment to his...

[@aikoaiko2008]

As a Linux user, I don't really agree with this making fun of Win7 users. Whether the choice of using Win7 is in the end reasonable or not, one thing is for certain: they cared about using a version of Windows enough to try their best to stay with it, and will even be less welcoming to invitations to switch to Linux compared to those already frustrated with Windows. They will be one of your hardest opponents to win over, and making fun of them will only make them stay more with Windows just for pure spite, like what not a few Linux users currently are doing with Windows. And it may be fine if they just kept their anger in, but if it were me, I'd tell everybody I know to avoid like the plague the OS whose community makes fun of what I choose to use. Our Linux OS is good, but it's not good enough to outweigh the ill-will people feels towards them and the feeling of surrender if they choose to switch.

[@TheInsane104]

You're an amazingly empathetic and nice Linux user! I don't use 7; I use 10, but I'm impressed with you! You're the opposite of Mental Outlaw, who is just an annoying Linux ad posing as a human.

[@Blue-ev5ow]

My honest take on this, is that it might be funny to some, but unironically these users have done more to stand against Microsoft's anti consumer practices than almost anyone else. They totally dont deserve the hate, and also speaking as someone who is into retro computing and legacy PCs for old gaming systems, they have created tons of extremely useful tools when Microsoft has done nothing but stand in the way of people attempting to use any of the older systems regardless of many valid use cases (not speaking of daily driving or networking here). Oh and also, no linux doesnt do everything an older windows OS does and can. And it cannot replace legacy PC functionality, and tons of games simply will not run in those environments (even when they do, it is with issues, and extremely time consuming to fix many of them, and some impossible). Even the jump 64 bit systems lost functionality for 16 bit installers ran on CDs for some 90s games, to install on 32 bit systems! And what about the actual hardware? Anybody else remember the XP era of soundcards, EAX, and Dolby 5.1 support being standard? That ended when windows killed it starting with Vista, and it was so ahead of its time and games from that era cannot be emulated the same by another system since. And on the note of CDs and floppy disks, does anyone even remember physical media, and how much of our history is being lost because nobody cares to preserve it? Remember the "87% of games" statistic? Microsoft: You will use our highly monitored spyware system, ad ridden, copilot ai, recall snapshot system, massive drain on system resources for absolutely zero reason, have zero user control, and we will try and prevent you from running any third party software on your own machine because you cannot be trusted to do that yourself. Oh, also get a new computer, because we want more money. And you'll do it, because over 20 years of computing history and software we have basically monopolized into our proprietary systems and you have little alternatives, unless you have serious computing experience to run unintiuitive and extremely complex systems like linux. And our systems only have a new vulnerability found every other week! Modern day windows 7 and xp users: Fine, I'll do it myself. Microsoft:

[@darkprinc979]

It is very often that the masses react poorly to anyone who is different, whether by choice or not. We've seen many extreme examples of this on a societal level over the past four years. All the more so when the experts are picking a side.

[@tcscomment]

fun fact: Wine exists, 86box is a thing, DOSBOX is a thing, EAX is still supported on modern Creative sound cards.

[@Blue-ev5ow]

@@tcscomment Fun fact: Wine is incomplete and imperfect, DOSbox is great but also not a solution to all the problems I mention, and modern EAX sound cards do not operate the same ways they did in the past or have the same software support they used to (I would know because I tried before). Seriously dude? This is your attempt at a response? Do you think I havent run linux systems before? Used wine, proton, virtual machines, many different distributions? No, this is an example of my conclusion through experience and it was not a skill issue either, some things simply don't work or work very poorly and I'm tired of pretending it does. This response really does sound like the meme "Linux is free if you don't value your time." I love linux, for specific use cases. But it does not, and cannot replace the functionality of many other systems. That's reality. And while we can go on and on about what it "could" do with enough time and effort, customization, and a computer science degree, none of that actually applies to the average user experience. The average user is not a tinkerer and has almost no idea of how an operating system works, much less what it is. What's next then? Where is the next goalpost to move? These arrogant and dismissive attitudes combined with ideological fanaticism will forever keep linux a small minority in the computing world. The "linux community" (as much as I dislike that term) is failing itself and has been for the last quarter of a century in this regard. I wish it weren't that way, but that's the truth.

[@hpoeter]

First paragraph, fully agree. Second: not saying you're wrong, but Linux can do most of that stuff without a sweat. Third: Agree about m$ spy+crapware. "unintiuitive and extremely complex systems" sounds like you haven't actually tried. I encourage you to give some beginner (and Windows-back-when-it-was-good-user-) friendly distro like Mint a shot. Windows is also very complex, it just hides that from the end user pretty well. Not all Linux distros even try, but some "just work" 99.9% (more than Windows, imho). Many are extremely easy to install as well, just make sure you have a backup or use a separate ssd to try. :)

[@Erianthor]

I agree with the games not being run properly on Linux. I use Ubuntu as my main OS and have a Windows 7 VM with RX 6800 GPU passed through to it. I can run some games on that one that would not run through Proton. There are other game-related issues on the OS though, that I ascribe to underdeveloped GPU drivers, however, I can't tell (with my lack of expertise) if it is so indeed.

[@linuxguy1199]

I moved to Linux because I was forced to use Windows 10, I would totally still use Windows 7, or even XP if it were practical.

[@moeta486]

Same here, I was using Win7 until web browsers started dropping support (before Supermium and RedFox existed, Pale Moon was super slow.)

[@guessundheit6494]

@@moeta486 Kmeleon (HTML5 browser) only dropped support for Lose98 in 2010, and for Lose2000 in 2014. The current version of Kmeleon v76.5.5 (October 2024) still supports XP.

[@cameronbosch1213]

Looking back, Windows 7 was truly the last nonenshittified version of Windows. Windows 8 was the beginning of the end.

[@darkprinc979]

@@moeta486 Waterfox would have been a good option. They only just dropped support for 7 with their latest update.

[@MechMK1]

If I had the option to use Windows 7 in a secure manner, I totally would. Windows has been on a downwards trend for years. Every update, it gets worse.

[@dashcharger24]

Why not use Linux?

[@moeta486]

​@@dashcharger24fear of the unknown

[@cartanfan-youtube]

@@dashcharger24Linux still needs a lot of work and truthfully the only thing intuitive for a lot of people is just what’s familiar for them.

[@imeakdo7]

​@@cartanfan-youtubewhat kind of work? With Linux mint everything works out of the box

[@TheDragonn29]

​@@imeakdo7 so long as you don't have to install anything, sure. Debian's outdated-ass packages have bit me in the ass so many times it's not even funny. Hell, I've basically abandoned Debian for anything that isn't strictly server-related because trying to figure out why such and such program wouldn't work properly was so infuriating.

[@muskyoxes]

"I wish I knew why" - windows 8 was a giant public embarrassment, so they didn't switch. This pattern continued.

[@xgui4-studios]

windows 10 isnt that bad ... and the ltsc can still get suppported for more than the normal version

[@floppa9415]

I still can 100% understand why people still cling onto Windows 7. Its the last version without crap UWP Apps, Ads, moving some things from the perfectly fine control panel into the Settings "App" but with half the features and this whole horrible minimal UI. Also moving to Linux isn't easy at all if you are only used to Windows and your needs aren't met by a webbrowser, email client and steam. Most mainstream distros do a lot of things fundamentally different. Like even basic shit like installing Software or the Filesystem work totally different. Another thing to consider is that these people clearly value a System that does not change at all over the years which I can understand. That is something that currently in the Linux world other than super obscure Distros like Slackware or something don't provide. Like look Gnome or KDE from 2009 and now. The difference is massive.

[@dashcharger24]

So some people don't like change?

[@ForeverZer0]

Oddly enough, switching between Linux and Mac is relatively easy, as they both adhere more strongly to UNIX principles, file hierarchy, the concept of package managers, etc. I would disagree with your comment about things changing too quickly, that is completely your choice. There are multiple iterations of each major desktop environment, but there is nothing so drastic between them which would make someone not know how to use them from one version to another. For people who like things to stay the same, there is Mate, which is based on Gnome 2, which was released in 2002, and is till going strong as a popular desktop. Windows 7 was released in 2009 and is well past its end-of-life and support cycle.

[@stupidburp]

@@ForeverZer0 15 years is not a long time for people who have been around for many decades and have no interest in chasing the most recent trends. It is a long time for a Windows OS only because MS designed in obsolescence as a business model.

[@BlueSparkzVideos]

also, it was the last version without the constant nagging for an online account

[@ForeverZer0]

@@stupidburp Yep, same reason we will never have cures for cancer, diabetes, etc, and only an ever stream of "new and improved" treatments. I use rolling-release distro for over a decade, so don't even remember what it was like to have different versions of my OS.

[@Linuxdirk]

Windows 7 is the most cohesive post-XP Windows available. I can clearly see why some people still like and use it. But yes, it’s dead.

[@bleack8701]

Windows 7 is the last version without the crappy spyware in 8, 10 and 11. It also had much better UI than all of those. I perfectly understand the people that run it

[@hpoeter]

It was actually XP that introduced the first spyware features, back then there was a pretty popular tool "XP antispy". You could still turn most of them off manually. 7 has a few more of these "features" still, but of course nowhere near as bad as later versions. And you are totally right about the UI.

[@LinuxIsForAll]

Hey Brodie, I was one of those Windows 7 users till this february 2024, after that I've switched to Linux, and I was still using Windows 7 mainly for it's fantastic frutiger aero look, for it's desktop computer friendly UI/UX, and for the fact that it didn't had ads on the os, and alot of people are still using W7 for that same reason. I also think that making fun of those people doesen't help anyone, especially the Linux community as we should give them a nice introduction to Linux instead of a "you're crazy lol, just use Linux."

[@stupidburp]

💯

[@michaell.8748]

real

[@iodreamify]

Still haven't come across a theme/rice that replicates Aero 100% without drawbacks. Many come close but somehow feel off.

[@Panklne]

​@@iodreamifyaerothemeplasma?

[@iodreamify]

@@Panklne i think ive heard of this but the amount of work on the readme put me off a little. i shall try it again when its ready for plasma6, thx.

[@Wampa842]

At my job, we prepare office computers by installing 7, then upgrading to 8.1, then upgrading to 10 because that's the only way to make sure all of our ancient printer drivers get installed. At my previous job, we had multiple production machines that ended support with XP, and one that only had software for OS/2. It's stupid, but necessary.

[@gearfriedtheswmas]

You should be fired if that's how you work.

[@Moresteck]

@@gearfriedtheswmas what for?

[@gearfriedtheswmas]

@@Moresteck Incompetence?

[@lordmike9331]

@@Moresteck just cause. see, gearfriedtheswmas and wampa842 go way back. the enmity is real

[@halostryke]

assuming all your computers are same spec, you should do that exercise once then save that computer's config to an iso image. all future computers should use your iso image to get up and running.

[@syncrossus]

> you wish you knew why Windows 7 is modern enough that there are no significant technical difficulties to get it running for 99% of users (as opposed to XP which doesn't natively support USB for example). Of the Windows versions that tick that box, it is also the least user-hostile, providing users near-full control of their machine with almost no dark patterns and very little telemetry. It has been around for so long that a lot of hacks have been found to alter its behavior or enhance it. It is fairly user-friendly and familiar to people who have known XP, improving it in meaningful ways while not straying too far, and has a decent search functionality. It is very stable compared to Vista. The error messages were also more intelligible than Vista and XP, yet more explicit than 10 and 11 and could therefore be addressed by the average user aided by a search engine. The installation process isn't fun, but it doesn't make you want to commit suicide. Lastly, Aero, man. So many people fucking love Aero's aesthetic and skeuomorphic design. I've switched to use exclusively Linux since the end of W7 support and in terms of user hostility, control and privacy it can't be beat; I have no regrets. It's also highly customizable making it quite user-friendly and quite pretty for anyone who wants to tailor it to themselves. But nothing beats Windows 7's aesthetic. Windows 11 is similar, but it's a pale imitation. There are KDE themes that try to emulate it, but they aren't nearly as polished. The glass effect on the windows was gorgeous; the way it frosted and unfrosted when switching focus was superb; the contextual glow beneath the cursor on the taskbar was cool as shit; the buttons were aesthetic and clear; the soundscapes weren't grating like XP or 10's; the control panel wasn't intuitive but it was pretty, everything was in one place, and it was easy to parse visually. No uniform monochrome flat-design garbage, no unclear symbolic material design bullshit. Buttons looked like buttons, there was no question whether something could be interacted with or not. People who still use Windows 7 are people who value all of these amazing qualities over their own safety (or don't take the risks seriously). Gosh do I ever miss Aero. If only I could use it on Linux.

[@TheInsane104]

Have you heard of Aero Theme Plasma? I'm still on Windows 10 (made to look like 7) and even I am impressed by this Linux theme!

[@syncrossus]

@@TheInsane104 I've tried a few Aero clones for KDE, I don't know if I tried that one specifically. I'll check it out. Some of them were very impressive at first glance, but all of them lacked some elements of polish that Windows Aero had like contextual color glow under the cursor on the task bar and focus frosting. I don't mean to criticize the work people have done on these themes, it's really impressive how close some of them got, but there's only so much you can do with themes -- some of it falls to the DWM to provide support, and feature parity with Aero is understandably not an objective these projects pursue.

[@jeremiahbullfrog9288]

If it weren't for linux front end stepping up recently, I would still be on windows 7 100%.

[@MegaManNeo]

Nah~ I would have done anything to life that Windows 10 LTSC experience.

[@arimcbrown]

Windows 7 was the cleanest version that MS ever built. I followed the development process, while they were working on it. They were surprisingly public about reworking their kernel at the time.

[@lolcathost]

@@MegaManNeo you know a pc from 2016 (my dad's) is so dogshit when it could barely run ltsc smoothly.

[@Spechtlerimwald]

@@MegaManNeo Windows11 LTSC plus OpenShell :) Btw. Linux (Manjaro now) with KDE and a glassy, win7-like "skin" is my daily driver.

[@vezquex]

Ubuntu 16.04 was perfectly fine.

[@MegaLokopo]

If microsoft still supported it, I would use windows 7 over anything they have made after it.

[@FAYZER0]

Some hacker devoted to Windows 7 was making your camera lose focus

[@Upliner1]

I have a friend who still uses Windows XP, and absolutely no arguments convince him to switch to something else. And some people get very angry when they update Windows 7 to Windows 10 and realize that the latter doesn't work well on theirs old hardware.

[@moeta486]

A lot of people forget Win7 is the last (non-8) version that's usable on HDD drives.

[@VictoriaBritish47]

Exactly and I use Windows because I love him so I will do it

[@LordVarkson]

@@moeta486 Not true, Windows 8 was a massive improvement for HDD users over Windows 7, as you'd expect given that most people had HDDs when it shipped.

[@schistosomaharinasutai6913]

@@moeta486 windows 10 is usable on hdd drives, been using it for years. am i missing something?

[@lmaorekt4200]

@@moeta486 I used windows 10 on my hdd

[@medallish]

I'm very sympathetic to these people, Windows 7 was the best Windows experience, if I wasn't paranoid about security I'd probably right there with them, but I did move on to Linux though. I am also planning to make Windows 7 box, that won't go online, but run some DX10-11 games from the time.

[@xamp_exclammark]

Windows 7 actually supports directx 12 funnily enough

[@rothn2]

Windows 7 looks a lot nicer than Windows 10 and 11, and it also doesn't have ads in the start menu. If I didn't understand the security stuff or need to play the latest games, I might be using it.

[@theloststarbounder]

Afaik the "security" shitsoft talks about is "security of the tyrant government how dare you say the N word without being spied and reported" rather than "haha malware go yeet" type of security.

[@NightKev]

There's a ton of programs to replace the windows 10 start menu (I'm using one right now). It's not that hard to take Windows 10 and modify it to be more like 7.

[@rothn2]

@@NightKev I bought one awhile ago, but found that it still didn't get the glassy Aero theme quite right. At this point, I'd find a skin to make KDE more like Windows 7 (or even it's own beautiful thing) a lot more useful since that's where I spend most of my time. Nothing right now can make me want to reach into the screen and touch it like Windows Vista-7 or the old macOS versions did.

[@celdaemon]

agree with the ads, couldn't disagree more on it looking nicer

[@MrKlarthums]

I'm running Win11. I have no ads in Start Menu. You need to spend some time customizing just like every version of Windows because the defaults have always been mediocre for experienced users.

[@SuperTamaru]

I used Win7 until last year not out of stubbornness but rather out of necessity: It was super old and I needed a new PC alltogether. Couldn't afford one, but got support from my family to build a decent last gen PC for parts. I will refurbish my old PC to run Linux Mint to use in my livingroom, but it has a NVIDIA graphics card so it will be a pain in the ass to make it co-operate. Dad's super proud of me for being a daily driver on Linux, and I couldn't be happier with Mint.

[@Raspredval1337]

you can use arch-based or fedora-based distros, they have the latest kernels with the latest diver support for nvidia. I personally use endeavour, it's a nice, user-friendly arch-distro.

[@MadMathMike]

Windows 7 was the last Windows release I was excited for.

[@gallowsgryph]

Why do people still use Windows 7? As a Linux user who also likes older OSes: 1) Some people find it *just works* for them. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 2) Some people just don't *like* Linux or other newer OSes. There's also the gaming part, but for daily driving things, it likely just does what they need it to, like any tool should. I myself have over 20 years experience with Linux, and I can tell you my relationship with it is always a knife's edge with how often I've had to spend days (even weeks) dealing with broken installs and packages, when I would've rather been doing actual work. I'm using it now, but only because it *barely* meets the minimum requirements I need for a daily driver.

[@nephatrine]

Connecting a machine to the internet is far different that it was back in the day. Everyone is behind a NAT/router now so as long as your router is up to date and you're not a dummy poking ports open in the router rules or running in a DMZ mode, nobody is randomly going to be connecting to your PC. It's not the dark ages where you were actually directly connected to the internet and any rando with your IP could directly connect to your PC. As long as people are prudent with what they access and download online, the actual threat posed by a lack of continuing security updates is very small. If people are using Windows 7 after all this time, they must really like it and Linux is going to be quite different compared to it - they're more likely to update to another version of Windows I think than switch to Linux.

[@szirsp]

Thank you for writing this. I was getting pissed off from how many "don't connect it to the Internet" comment/reply I read. Good cyber-hygiene is more important than running a supported OS. If you don't use something, disable it! You don't need IPv6? Disable it -> You are more secure than average Win10 (were even before they discovered the vulnerability in Windows 10 network IPv6 stack). Don't install crap you don't need. (Is it really safer to run a russian written debloater on Win10 than running Win7? Who knows, hopefully yes.) Don't visit sites you don't know and trust (or use a a VM for that), and use some kind ADdon that blocks "malware" scripts. The "just use linux" is another brain rot cult answer or intentional trolling. Typing a random "sudo ..." command you found on the internet is not safer than running Windows (when you want to install something not in the package manager or do pretty much any configuration changes). Linux is safer, because of selection bias. Because people who use Linux use it because they are more security/privacy minded, understand the tech more... How many of these Linux advocates run their system with automatic unattended upgrades? (Because if there is a security patch you want to upgrade ASAP, right? Yet every one of my expert daily Linux driver friends/coworkers told me they don't, they don't trust it, they want to verify, be in control when and how to update...) It is still not great practice to run an OS without (official) support, but unfortunately this is the state of the world we are in. For some tasks Win7 is still the best (or only) option. It's not a great or good option, but still the best :( The biggest competitor of Windows 10 and 11 is Windows 7. That's why they had to kill it.

[@noahheninger]

It depends on what it is they don't like about Windows 10/11 and are trying to avoid. I used 7 up until last year because it didn't constantly revert user settings, strongarm me into using the Microsoft ecosystem, collect copious amounts of data on me, frequently replace intuitive features with unintuitive ones. I could go on. Linux doesn't have the same ease of use, and it will never have the same level of 3rd party support, but in terms of just being the product rather than treating you like the product, Linux is the true successor to Windows 7.

[@rogo7330]

@@szirsp > if you don't use IPv6 - disable it Thank you for making our lives even more miserable and changing a vulnerability in MS closed source crap for a vulnerabilities in DHCP implementations and configurations of it. Yeah, btw, routers are even lesser updated systems and have tons of vulnerabilities with shit like RCE over DNS or, even better, over backdoors that was put in there intentionally by your ISP when they gave you a router that you're not allowed to remove for some freaking reason, or just by Xiaomi, whose firmware casually contains a dropbear binary just sitting in there but not actually running on any of interfaces and god knows why it's here and what should bring it up and for whom to access.

[@RussellCox]

Yeah, people like to parrot the "no updates means you get hacked" rubbish. Meanwhile, those people lose their system or files to bad updates; not to mention nice fresh vulnerabilities to exploit. Win7 didn't die of old age. They assassinated it to get people onto 8/10/11 where Microsoft can exploit you!

[@SimisearOfficial]

There's a guy on the R/Trackballs discord who does manual patching to Windows 7 to make it "up to date" and he said he used to daily drive Linux From Scratch before this. He also talks about how much he doesn't like centralized package management

[@ikcikor3670]

If he went with Gentoo or similar he'd never look back towards Windows

[@gogereaver349]

Well that guy is out of date because we have flat packs and the repos at AUR and a ton of other package managers out there.

[@RadikAlice]

I can understand not liking many things about Linux, but who would enjoy having to go to a website to download and manually run an installer every time?

[@Ejioplex]

criminally insane

[@horrorhotel46290]

Can confirm, the absence of package managers and the lack of a properly unified installer system is THE biggest annoyance on Linux

[@Vicorcivius]

Windows 7 is actually still an amazing operating system and it is very fun and satisfying when I manage to hack an application or game to run on it when the devs of that application or game demand that it only work on windows 10 and up.

[@confusioned2249]

The 5 stages of grief for windows 7 users: 1. Denial 2. Anger 3. Denial 4. Denial 5. Denial

[@stupidburp]

Nah it is just 1. Acceptance of increased risk to keep using what they like and want.

[@bionicseaserpent]

banger comment, too true

[@ZA26]

Fix the user interface of Windows 11.

[@ZA26]

Linux doesn't work

[@ZA26]

Nvidia card doesn't work properly in Linux

[@davidfrischknecht8261]

If Windows 7 was as secure as modern versions of Windows, I'd still use it. IMHO, it had the best UI/UX of any Windows version.

[@marstedt]

Windows 7 is basically LTSC if you use UpdatePack7. Last release was 2024.10.10. Think of it as SP3 for Win7.

[@gblenemy]

Microsoft peaked at Windows 7.

[@tsilb]

"Steam is no longer supported on your operating system version" ... I mean, they probably aren't the type to ask for support... just don't actively go out of your way to prevent them from trying.

[@gogereaver349]

You download the games on a newer computer and then put them on the old computer

[@d-tech3190]

That Windows Server port trick actually makes Windows 7 quite secure today - AFAIK there are no unpatched "wormable" vulnerabilities, i.e. SMB / RDP exploits that can get you hacked without touching your computer. Obviously you would need updated software. Firefox ESR could make you safe on the Internet until March 2025. After that it's all down to whether you actually trust those small backport projects to keep their browsers up to date with security patches fast enough. Office 2016 is still supported until October 2025, and for music and video, VLC still supports even Windows XP. So yes, if you're willing to jump hoops you're still safe at least until next year. Tbh, if it weren't for the lack of security updates and new unsupported APIs, I'd probably still be using Windows XP, as I've hardly ever used any newer feature. Microsoft is trying to shove things like a Microsoft account down your throat, and now with Windows 11 it's all about AI. And let's not forget about privacy issues. I use Windows 10 not because I want to but because I'm forced to.

[@szirsp]

7:45 Running a vulnerable OS is not great, wouldn't advise it. But just because you don't use it, it's not nice to recommend people breaking other people's systems, prevent them from playing their games. The "I don't have a problem, and I'm happy that you have" is not a good mentality to have or openly display to others :( Just because most games can run on Linux (if you you put enough effort in it) doesn't matter if the game you want to play doesn't run on Linux (or against EULA...) I think most of us can agree that Windows 10/11 is not great (in terms of privacy, security, updates deleting user documents, resetting audio settings...) There are legitimate reasons why some people have not upgraded to the latest garbage Microsoft produce.

[@heavymetalmixer91]

Can you blame them? W7 is the best Windows ever, I changed to 10 only because of compatibility issues with certain hardware and software.

[@joshuabeckwith7906]

When Steam said they were dropping it. I moved to Mint. I moved EVERYTHING over to LMDE. I was on a old Thinkpad at the time. 🤣 Then a friend sold me an Asus TUF FX505DT with Windows 11. Went straight back to LMDE no questions asked. Windows 7 was the last decent OS Microsoft made.

[@authurstretchygreenthing8464]

And some people REALLY don't get the "was" part of that sentence.

[@manitoba-op4jx]

@@authurstretchygreenthing8464 it's literally still better than 11

[@darknightmike10yearsago]

​@@manitoba-op4jxIt's not though, unfortunately. Installing Windows 7 isn't even possible on a lot of new UEFI machines, and software software is awful on Windows 7 these days. Software support is better on Linux than Windows 7 now.

[@cubedmelons876]

Windows 7 was the ONLY decent OS Microsoft made.

[@shade221]

@@darknightmike10yearsago > Windows 7 isn't even possible on a lot of new UEFI machines lmao anything is possible with some effort. people are installing windows 9x, nt, and xp on brand new hardware.

[@AdamKafei]

Windows 7 as a Linux Distro when?

[@jamescobban857]

WINE can reliably emulate the Win7 API and Zorin and some other distros will approximate the WIN7 GUI.

[@manitoba-op4jx]

if someone would just make a standalone port pf the win7/winvista UI for linux, these people would move to it.

[@rogo7330]

@@jamescobban857 Zorin OS is far from Win7 GUI. It's time to realize that hiding how "installed applications" are just '.desktop' files in user's folder is not working well and just complicates things for those who does not want to learn how to program but still can just change a couple of lines in a text file and just move files around.

[@alpacamale2909]

I have two architect friends that have windows 7 machines. They turn them on, open autocad map 3D and get their work done. Simple.

[@andreivaughn1468]

It's true, CAD software is a big deal. At my work we have some field guys that have 2012 era gaming laptops because they still run the licensed CAD and you'd have to re-buy it if you wanted to reinstall on a newer PC.

[@ZoneStricker]

the main appeal is that it was the last cohesive windows experience

[@qy9MC]

My father used it daily since it came out. Still using it right now.

[@warpmaster]

16:20. Why use auto focus when you always record at the same distance and from the same position? To me, it seems better to manually set the best focus and then use it consistently, avoiding any misconfigurations from the auto mode.

[@leonidas14775]

I'm one of them. I dual boot windows 7 and linux on my old laptop that doesn't have graphics drivers for windows 10 and newer. It also runs 10 really slow if I try. If I need to do something securely online, I boot into Linux.

[@awdsqe123]

But why not use linux fully? Why even bother with proprietary software?

[@yuli_666]

@@awdsqe123 There are some games that are not supported and games that run horribly through wine/proton. I'm better running them on windows. And also there's pirated games that can have pirated versions for linux(if i would search for them) but i don't want to run them for security reasons and they probably would be very old versions of those games

[@Betonoszlop]

@@awdsqe123 I guess becase its very bad for gaming. I tried it and i did regret the time i wasted on

[@awdsqe123]

@@Betonoszlop Feel sad for you, I've not found a single game that doesn't run smoothly on linux.

[@Betonoszlop]

@@awdsqe123 I played with Proton. I had missing cutscenes, missing sounds, black artifactings, and so on. After i installed Windows 10, everything worked as it should be. I Still use Linux for my old notebook, for KZbin videos while im working out.

[@HaveANceDay]

If you are used to windows 7 and get to use windows 10+ there is a subtle feeling of depression for the amount of crap that is shoved on modern windows, I kind of feel for people in this situation. I remember the last time I used windows 10 and it was so disrespectful with the user that I tried fedora and then I never looked back to windows since then.

[@quarteratom]

I know it's hard to believe, but there are people who don't live in their computers. They don't have much stuff on their computers, just some programs they use from time to time. For them, it's not the end of the world if they get hacked. Also Windows XP and 7 machines don't automatically get hacked the moment they connect to the internet.

[@3amael]

Windows 7 was the best version of Windows, the true successor to Windows XP, everything after that was Microsoft bloatware!

[@cameronbosch1213]

Vista wasn't actually as bad as people thought. Sure, it increased system requirements by a LOT, but it was a lot more robust than Windows XP was if you had the right hardware. Which was a problem, because most older computers had a bad time with Windows Vista...

[@Iamnotagenius]

It's just sad. These people are trying to hold on to what they're used to. And they just have no other option whatsoever, because let's be honest - Linux is its own thing with its own quirks. For these users patching windows 7 and dealing with its problems is much easier than switching to Linux.

[@ZA26]

My hardware doesn't work in Linux.. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?

[@cameronbosch1213]

​@@ZA26If you have hardware that isn't 64 bit capable, you REALLY should get something newer. Otherwise, unless there's a Broadcom Wi-Fi driver in that system, Linux WILL work; it just might not work out of the box.

[@szirsp]

@@cameronbosch1213 I see we don't mind creating e-waste as long as it furthers our agenda. (NVIDIA GPUs, peripherals... just buy new ones... thank you environment) SMH :(

[@cameronbosch1213]

@szirsp I sort of agree, there is a difference between usable and unusable (unlike what Microsoft is trying to do with Windows 11), but 32 bit is pretty much a goner for mainstream distros.

[@szirsp]

@@cameronbosch1213 Yeah, I probably still own 32 bit x86 HW somewhere, but certainly don't use it. I haven't kept up with releases, but I remember when I sill saw i386 and i686 versions of Linux the releases :) ... it's been a while ;) That's why I like Linux, that it can run on almost anything. But I understand if current desktop distros don't so much.

[@anachronisticthings6816]

Once you realize that no OS is inherently secure, all kinds of possibilities emerge.

[@rogo7330]

It's about can you or not update your system to fix a critical bug that will not make your ass blocked by ISP because some script-kiddy exploited it over the Internet through a downloaded MP4. Linux is very stable in its API, at least from users point of view. All the tools that build around the shell (or just bash) are there. Everything is layed-out in front of you and anybody can spend their time and tweek how things work without needing to first lear how to disassemble a binary and second without breaking a law by distributing your mod over the internet.

[@vidal9747]

4:16 My lab has a windows 7 machine dedicated to a diffractometer. The new version of the software that works with windows 10 doesn't supoort that diffractometer in particular. That machine will be forever stuck in windows 7. Same story with windows XP. Is it dangerous to let a machine that can be unlocked and activated by software and can produce enough radiation to severely hurtl you in an insecure OS? I don't know.

[@MikeGaruccio]

This honestly depends on the overall config. Is that machine connected to a network? If not then it’s really not an issue. If it is, then it’s comes down to how well the IT dept has locked down its access and other machines access to it.

[@elikirkwood4580]

I never actually owned a windows 7 pc when it was still the mainstream OS, and by the time I started really getting into PCs, windows 10 was well entrenched, so I really didn't have a reference point when people talked about how much better it was. Recently I was given a pc from a friend that was used in a vet clinic and then factory reset to a fresh install of 7, and this inspired me to install it on one of my older systems. (I have a closet full of old PCs, help) After some issues setting everything up, I finally got it working and I have to say, I get it now. It idles a ~3-400 megs of ram, out of the 16 gigs I have in the system. That's about half of what my main linux desktop uses. The jump from that to what 10 uses without debloating it is insane.

[@Varangian_af_Scaniae]

"Is This Finally The End Of The Windows 7 Insanity" Insanity to want to use the best OS ever?!? You are just a daft basement dweller!

[@mrkosmos9421]

Sadly Windows 7 was the best way to run Steam on lower end 32 bit machines, since Win 10 is too heavy and Steam dropped Linux on 32 bit. ReactOS is the only way for this... if only the win7/server/embedded hackers had put this much effort into that project, we could have been on ReactOS 5 at this point

[@chaos.corner]

Really? I recall having to add 32 bit libraries back into my Slackware install to run Steam and it wasn't that long ago.

[@Rosentti]

​@@chaos.cornerIt's still a 32-bit application, but since the UI is made with CEF in a separate webhelper process, those webhelper processes are 64-bit only

[@chaos.corner]

@@Rosentti That's good to know. Thanks. Might as well make it all 64 bits then (though I know that's not great for 32 bit people but it sounds like we're basically in that place anyway).

[@MittellBuurman]

I miss Windows 7. Windows 10 is too invasive and bloated. End of story

[@Kharzette]

For me the deal breaker with 10 was the lack of control over updates. Frustration with this made me reinstall win7 back in 2022, but I had forgotten some of the UI oddities of that era (scroll wheel only working on the focused area etc). Already in 2022 alot of things I used were not working, such as VSCode. I only lasted a few days before returning to win10 and just taking the time to beat it into shape with alot of powershell action. Of course I've always had linux as a dual boot during all of this time, so the windows side was just for legacy tools and certain troublesome games. I still to this day have a dedicated windows XP machine for original xbox development and I'm very thankful for all the XP diehards out there for keeping it alive. I've only come into contact with 11 via helping others out with problems, but it seems to continue that microsoft attitude of "we own your computer and just allow you to use it sometimes". An OS should run my programs and stay out of my way.

[@casey206969]

>I just don't understand why the best version of the best operating system that has ever exists still has a large userbase ??? I would think you are playing dumb but you use arch so I'm not quite sure.

[@casey206969]

You literally use an OS designed in the 70s that is so insecure it needs to be sectioned off from modern hardware. How do you not see the irony here?

[@jeslinmx22]

Performing operating system surgery to be able to use Windows Offline Edition with a rawdogged internet connection is wild.

[@EvanOfTheDarkness]

Here is the thing: Linux is *STILL* a UX nightmare. I stopped using it as a main OS, when I found no way of scrolling multiple lines with the wheel across 3 different mouse "drivers". It made reading PDF-s painful. Window 7 is *THE* OS with the best UX. Windows 10 had a lot of useful things removed, and even more "anti-features" added. 11 is even worse, and OSX is basically an outdated Linux distro at this point. The only reason Mac users don't complain, is that they never knew what a good user experience looks like. Also, not having security updates is not a big deal. Just make sure you back up any important data. You should get used to it, because Windows 11 is unusable crap, and it refuses to work with older PCs, so any sane person will continue to use Windows 10 for the foreseeable future.

[@v01d_r34l1ty]

"The only reason Mac users don't complain, is that they never knew what a good user experience looks like." This is so real.

[@doctahjonez]

Id say Win 2000 has the best UX too, but if you're ever on linux again try im-wheel, it lets you scroll multiple lines and set the amount

[@EvanOfTheDarkness]

@@doctahjonez Thanks, although that was just one example. The big picture is that you every small issue you come across requires hours of googling, and digging though obscure forum posts to solve. And it's all because "Linux Desktops" are not one or two software. It's hundreds of small tools, co-opted to begrudgingly work together, mostly written by developers in their free time. And the result is that each part of the desktop is managed by a different tool, that you don't even know of, has its own config files, in its own format, and has its own 30 page manual, on how the tool works, that tells you everything _except_ how your desktop actually uses that tool, and how it should or should not be configured. It's a mess.

[@Wicked0547]

They want Win 7 because that's the last good Windows.

[@tristen_grant]

To me XP was the last "Good" Windows version.

[@megadutcher4107]

I skipped 8/8.1/10...stayed on Windows 7 as long as i could before switching to Manjaro KDE Wayland. Best decision I ever made...

[@Raspredval1337]

manjaro is kinda meh tho, why not plain Arch, or any other minimal Arch-based distro?

[@darknightmike10yearsago]

That's great, but if you plan on using the AUR it's better to use a "real" Arch distro like EndeavourOS, Garuda, or CachyOS. Mixing Manjaros packages with AUR packages can break your system. Hopefully you are using the Unstable version of Manjaro (it's ironically more stable in practice than the stable version that holds back packages).

[@yuvalne]

we've had people on the Signal forum complain that Windows 7 support was dropped. imagine using an E2EE app on an insecure machine connected to the internet....

[@Vicorcivius]

Windows 7 can be made just as secure as any other operating system with the correct updates and software installed.

[@carlpeters8690]

Honestly, If I could safely run Windows 7 - with a few updates - I think I would prefer it over the crap MS keeps doing - removing / obscuring functionality, adding spyware, ...

[@Spaztron64]

So bitter, did Windows 7 hurt your pets or something?

[@darkprinc979]

It can be scary watching people go against the grain.

[@shade221]

seriously, this level of whining makes me want to install windows 7 and daily drive it out of spite lol

[@duplicake4054]

Oh my god I asked people on r/windows7 about how they use steam and all the security vulnerabilities and I got downvoted to hell

[@fagear]

Why? EZ. No stupid forced policies and "we know better than you, eat it" BS. - no forced OS upgrade (early W10) - no forced updates wherever they want (W10+) - no forced ADs in the OS (W10+) - no forced online OS account and search (W11) - no forced AI crap (W11) - no schizo Settings UI (W10+) - no tiles and crippled Start menu (W8+) - no ugly and boring UI (W8+) It used to be that new super duper features in Windows were optional. Don't like new WinXP look? Here is "classic" UI (still available in W7). Don't like grouped Control Panel? Here is toggle for a classic list. Don't like grouped windows on the Taskbar? Here, toggle that off. Don't want updates interrupt your work flow and get in the way? Here, set those to manual. Want oldschool Start Menu? Here is an option. Since W8 M$ forgot that it's strength was in the legacy support and started forcing whatever BS they wanted without any fallback options. I won't whine about it and/or swallow it as is. I'll stick to what suits my needs and work as I want it to. I'll stick with W7. That's my statement to those unwanted changes. And the thing is... I don't need ANY hacks or tricks to still use W7 today. All official updates installed, older version of Chromium and here you go. All (and I mean it) websites work, Discord app works, Steam works, even some "W10 only" games run just fine. The only thing is potential security "risks". I know it's not for long but it still works just fine. And that's my data I'm "risking" online, not yours. No need to be so vocal for you.

[@fagear]

And sorry you, Linux users, you can tell those "just switch to Linux" nonsense all day but here's a news flash: Linux is still not ready for the Desktop. It works OK in headless/network environments and can work with GUI and sound on very specific hardware with great bit of polish on top (see Steam Deck). But it's still junky, cumbersome, unpolished and not-ready for anything else. You might cope with it and don't notice that but it is NOT ready. I've tried many Linux distros on my desktops for a long time. Every time it's bugged, glitchy and usually craps itself on simple update installs. And when it tries to work it always gets in the way with decade old UI bugs, visual glitches, bad font rendering, bad sound system, etc. Even W11 will get less in my way than any Linux will. W98 setup are more stable for me than Linux. That's my experience. You can disagree and have a different experience but that's mine.

[@darknightmike10yearsago]

​@@fagearLinux is ready for the desktop. I've had a great experience with Linux Mint, Pop!OS, Kubuntu, OpenSuse Tumbleweed (KDE), and EndeavourOS (KDE). Are there some issues here and there? Sure. but I'd much rather troubleshoot some issues on Linux than try to strip ads, telemetry, bloatware, and other BS out of Windows that shouldn't be there in the first place. As long as you have a decent desktop environment (KDE Plasma, Gnome, Cinnamon, XFCE), install your proprietary NVIDIA drivers (if you have an NVIDIA card), Timeshift for system restore (not needed on OpenSuse with BTRFS), and a package manager and software manager (if your distro doesn't come with one), you should have a great experience using Linux. The GUI for Plasma is leagues ahead of Windows and MacOS. Linux runs every program I need to use on a daily basis, and I'm sure it does for most other average folks too.

[@fagear]

@darknightmike10yearsago first time I've tried Linux was when Ubuntu 9.04 was new. And it borked itself to non-booting kernel panic mess when I just installed several programs from the official repo without touching the console. I've tried Manjaro, Pop!, different versions of Debian, Ubuntu, Mint. Every time the experience was troublesome from the box. Last time it was on my current PC (that still runs W7) with Mint 19.1. I had GTX1080 and none three (?) options for video driver worked OK. One just didn't produce any picture at all. The other was kinda working in 2D but it had an effect of lagging my text input on the Discord app (!) for ~2 seconds while consuming the whole core of the CPU. It worked for a couple of days giving me trouble with video capture devices support (barely working with no options) and then on update it crapped itself, after boot the normal GUI login screen appeared, I've entered password, screen flashed with some corrupted video data and turned solid grey. No error messages, no nothing. I've tried to reinstall Mint some time again and on update it crapped itself again, login-looping. Basically as before but after entering the data it just blinked the screen and returned back to empty login screen. In a loop. Funny that some time before that I've got the same behavior with totally different ARM based dev board with Ubuntu 12.04 on it. Login-loop after update. Linux never works for me.

[@darknightmike10yearsago]

​@@fagearI'm sorry to hear that. That sounds frustrating. Kernel panics are scary and not fun. That is wild. Maybe you can paste your system information on a forum of whatever distro you might end up using (if you still care to try Linux again) and somebody can help you troubleshoot your issues. I have a GTX 1080-TI and I haven't had those weird issues before on Linux, so maybe there is something else on your machine that causes issues. Try running memtest and see if there are any errors.

[@darknightmike10yearsago]

​@@fagearAlso, the official Discord client kinda sucks on Linux, so it's much better to use Vesktop. Vesktop strips out telemetry, allows you to install plug-ins and themes, supports screen sharing windows on Wayland and audio, and it runs smoother.

[@Megalomaniakaal]

"I wish I knew why" - best I can guess... Because there is no alternative for them. It does not exist.

[@buddharosa8250]

Use a good firewall and Window 7 is fine.

[@notCAMD]

The scary thing is that many teachers in schools use Windows 7 on their laptops...

[@dashcharger24]

The people in our government were still running it. Not only Windows 7, but also older Windows Server versions.

[@kindasus]

I think some schools in India still teach students about how to do stuff on windows 7 Most of the computers in my school still run windows 7

[@beaten_tech]

I didnt know the community was supporting 7. Maybe ill go back to it.

[@marsovac]

I'm pretty sure there are also a ton of unsupported Linux systems still being used around by people that just don't want to update to another OS. Some poeple are so weird that they think that OSes are like works of art that need to be refurbished forever.

[@authurstretchygreenthing8464]

Aesthetically speaking, they are. Functionally speaking? Not so much, no. Bet you anything they'd quit pissing and moaning if you showed them a Mint desktop that looks like 7 or XP.

[@blisphul8084]

Functionally speaking, it's a work of art too. Windows 7's simplicity is testament to that

[@rGunti]

I did not expect to see a Kernel Extension for Windows 7 showing up so soon. I know they exist for Win98 and Win2000 to make them run XP apps. But Win7?! Dang...

[@JackedLinuxUser]

I love and miss Windows 7.

[@VictoriaBritish47]

I love all versions of Windows NT including Windows 7

[@adambester3673]

honestly KDE plasma with the dark breeze theme feels pretty close to how i had windows 7 customized back in the day but better.

[@MajorCadence]

I actually have a good use case for one of my lab PCs being Windows 7. (Yes, I have two other Linux lab machines as well, not a stranger there) 1. I use Windows 7 for retro code development, older 32 bit and 16-bit executables and such. I also use it to run older EXEs downloaded from the internet before loading them onto my vintage computers. 2. I use Windows 7 on this machine to interface with most of my lab test equipment over USB, including my chip programmer, power supply, oscilloscope, etc... Most of this equipment does not offer a working Linux alternative for this software, and has problems on later Windows versions. 3. Most importantly, I need excellent vintage hardware support. I just don't "trust" Linux to pick up and be compatible with all hardware (from past experience, trust me... ahem Nvidia...). Since broken computer hardware is mostly what I fix, I need the confidence for a obscure graphics or network card to just work. I don't want to end up chasing down a hardware problem only for it to be a Linux incompatibility. 4. I need internet to grab and download Windows drivers, exes, games, etc.. While I do have (and am expanding) a nice Linux NAS for my lab that can be accessed from anywhere on my local network, I do require new files from the internet all the time, not to mention the quick and convenient google/KZbin search from the comfort of the same system. There's also no better place to reverse engineer and patch old Windows software than actually running it on an old Windows system. I also run a semi-modern antivirus on this machine as well as well as being behind a well configured home firewall. I do also have XP, 2000, 98, 3.1 and DOS all connected to the internet. So far, 0 hacks... but I do still keep monthly backups ;)

[@skynetisreal]

As to date. 0.28% of Steam users still run Windows 7. Compared to the Linux user-base that sadly still is pretty significant.

[@cyberlemmingasaservice7740]

isn't the Linux user base around 2% on Steam?

[@skynetisreal]

@@cyberlemmingasaservice7740 Correct. Your point?

[@cyberlemmingasaservice7740]

@@skynetisreal 0.28% to 2% is not that significant. It's 14% of the Linux userbase.

[@midtst0v]

2:26 it's not security they're worried about. it's the fact that it was the last bastion of hope for Microsoft that we ever got. smells like a strawman.

[@Betonoszlop]

Well said

[@WWIIREBEL]

Now if congress would pass laws to make/force companies like MS to NOT have annoying pop up ads and the removal of AI /copilot everything for those that want their privacy (basically to make a privacy, paramount, safe, home version without all of the bloatware as a solid option for the basic inexperienced users).

[@authurstretchygreenthing8464]

Considering the corporations run America at the moment...yeah, no. That's why lobbyists are the scum of the earth.

[@szirsp]

If congress or Microsoft really cared about security then they would (make them) open source abandoned software (or source available for personal repair). They would have the option to install only security updates and not push whatever newest no one asked feature with vulnerability fixes.

[@blackjam_alex]

There is a lot of software that does not work on modern versions of Windows or Linux, like some old Japanese indie games. Instead of laughing at people hanging to Win 7 we should be providing fixes so they can jump to Linux.

[@NightKev]

There's a difference between keeping a Win7 VM/install/whatever to use whenever you want to play those games, and daily driving Win7.

[@asunavk69]

True, making fun of ppl for choice is counter-productive and does nobody favors, brodie is doing to w7 users what w10/11 users(more like the shills) do to linux users. imo this was a bad video just bcuz of that.

[@RadikAlice]

Have you ever heard of a thing called... _Virtual Machines?_ Besides emulation, best and only resort for playing PC-98 games for example

[@moeta486]

​@@asunavk69Truth nuke, I never heard of this guy until this video, is he always a douche like this?

[@jeder6915]

I am all in for ridiculing people that use windows 7 for anything more than retro gaming on a air-gapped machine

[@diablominero]

I liked windows 7! I didn't realize it was still possible to run it these days. You may have given me ideas...

[@darkprinc979]

Yeah, you just have to get hardware that still supports it, which shouldn't be *too* hard. I'm running a core i5 6600k system that has Windows 7 drivers still, so while the hardware is on the older side, it is still perfectly usable. Software support is still on the wane though, as the browser I've been using since I switched from XP to 7 just recently dropped support for 7 with their latest update. This won't hurt my main system since I primarily run Linux Mint, but my older system with Windows 7 will eventually have to switch to a new browser now.

[@xard64]

I've seen over the years that people tend make fun of eccentric Linux power users but I have to say that the dedicated diehard Windows power users are not only eccentric but down right scary.

[@Jason-co9ep]

I'm literally typing this comment from Windows 7 right now.

[@BrodieRobertson]

What's that experience like

[@Jason-co9ep]

@@BrodieRobertson For the most part, not too bad. A few hiccups here and there that were resolved with VxKex, CFF Explorer binary modifications and a few other tricks. Most recently though, Unity 6 has made some games stop working and I'm still investigating workarounds for that. Also, no AV [hack me bro ;-) ]. I use Linux as well and have since Slackware 3.2. This particular Windows 7 install just holds a place in my heart. It has survived through 3 or 4 motherboard swaps and CPU changes without a reinstall.

[@Jason-co9ep]

@@BrodieRobertson It's been ok for the most part using the methods you mentioned and a few others. This particular install has survived I think 3, maybe 4, different mobo/CPU swaps over the course of 15+ years without reinstall and just holds a special place with me. I also use Linux and have since Slackware 3.2. I have zero Win10+ systems, however. Don't get me started on how long I'll hang on to xorg :-).

[@k1logr4m51]

@@Jason-co9ep Are you that type of person that doesn't like change? I like to be on the bleeding edge side of things. Seeing a new update of anything is exciting for me. For that reason I have EndeavourOS installed with a Wayland compositor called Niri.

[@Jason-co9ep]

@@k1logr4m51 I don't mind change per se, but I do dislike change just for the sake of it. At a certain point, some things just work. There are too many solutions in search of problems, and worse, these new solutions tend to create new classes of problems and the cycle continues. As far as Linux is concerned, I see some value in bleeding edge from a developer standpoint as you get a large swath of testers and hopefully quality bug reports, but, as a user, if my hardware doesn't change I don't see the value in updating the kernel every couple of months. Security and bug fixes tend to get back-ported anyways. I have a couple of VMs, one with a Debian stable derivative and one with Void that haven't been started in a few months. I'm not worried about 'apt upgrade' and perhaps even 'apt dist-upgrade' but 'xbps-install -Su' gives me a bit of anxiety. If I really want the bleeding edge of something, I'll download the latest source commit and build it myself. Anyways, that was a bit long-winded for a YT comment; my apologies. I should start a blog.

[@BoxedWater123]

I respect the Windows 7 users

[@WyvernDotRed]

Back when I did not fully draw the line at not playing games that do not work on Windows, I duel-booted Windows 7 for one game. 7 instead of 10 because 10's interface is annoying and sluggish, while 7 is pretty yet lightweight with a modern-ish GPU. What did stand out is how bare-bones the window management in 7 is and how poorly it supports having multiple monitors. But otherwise it worked well enough while I ran it, aside from another in hindsight hardware related stability issue. If I hadn't discovered Linux and fully switched over, I would probably have gone back to 7 and learned these methods to make it work. For the past few years I have themed my system to an Aero-like look, but unfortunately KDE Plasma doesn't get quite as nice as actual 7 Aero. Recently I moved over to something resembling a crossover of Plasma 4 and Unity, but I still have a Windows 7 login manager theme just for the questions about it. Windows 7 was good but has gotten outdated. But it was the last Windows OS that respected it's users, hence those folk still want to use it and find ways to make it work. Though with how Microsoft has been layering new rubbish on the NT core since XP, I consider modern Windows outdated too. Linux desktop systems stay up-to-date with how core parts slowly get updated and changed out as need arises. KDE Plasma takes all the good ideas from it and other Windows versions and mostly executes on them well. Most distro's also respecting it's users and in cases where software does not, it can simply be swapped out. A certain desktop environment and application packaging format comes to mind, I do not use those and many others around me seem to follow.

[@MohammedMehdiTBER]

Windows 7 + Russian server packs = Banger

[@stupidburp]

Windows 7 was the last actually good version of Windows. I don’t blame anyone for keeping Windows 7. I do, on my old Windows systems that I rarely use anymore. Because I refuse to use any of the recent junky versions of Windows. I have Linux for everyday use and it is fine for 99.999% of my needs. For the other 0.001% I have Windows 7.

[@gogereaver349]

I can't say 10 was bad until late in life when it added all the BS

[@RandomGeometryDashStuff]

windows 8.1 also not too bad

[@stefanalecu9532]

​@@RandomGeometryDashStuff it was both lighter and faster than Windows 7 AND Windows 10/11, I don't know how they pulled it off. I've debloated a Windows 8.1 install so much that it ran at *600M* idle. This is better than using GNOME ffs, and that's including all Windows services and the shell and whatnot

[@pretzelise2226]

​@@gogereaver349apologies if this sounds condescending (it's not my intention at all) I love reading comments like this. As someone who upgraded to windows 10 very early in its lifecycle, I remember everyone making the same comments we see about windows 11, but about windows 10. It's fascinating how attitudes change over time. I wonder if Windows 11 will receive similar comments when Windows 12 inevitably comes out

[@cameronbosch1213]

​@pretzelise2226 Nah, Microsoft took all of the scummy practices from Windows 8.1 & 10 and turned them up to 11 (sorry for the pun). Not only was a Microsoft account basically required without hacks, they kept obsoleteing older computers that were still perfect usable that just lacked TPM 2.0 and/or an 8th gen Intel CPU or AMD Ryzen CPU or newer. And I know you CAN bypass the requirements, but let's be real; do you actually WANT to with Copilot trash and ads being infested throughout the entire OS!?

[@silvernode]

I'm surprised he didn't mention 0patch. It's a company with a product that injects security patches at runtime into individual apps and they support Windows 7,8,9,10 and 11. They often support patches that Microsoft refuses to issue.

[@elisa_5445]

Windows 7 is the last decent version of Windows, I could totally use it, security vulnerabilities wouldn't matter because this is a problem only for enterprises, not simple users

[@penguin86bitals]

LMAO you don't have a bank card, a social security number or its analog, a phone number, a home address etc.? At the very least, you don't have a peace of hardware connected to the internet capable of beibg a part of a botnet or just working as a proxy with a clean residential IP for some very dirty business? Or you also don't have other devices in tge same network with likely pretty relaxed security against the same LAN subnet, to which all of the above could propagate from a vulnerable machine? Dude, you seem to be overdosed on copium. 99% of the attacks on the internet are not targeted. Rather, the internet itself is the target, and you will get affected if you are a part of it. But you can pretend to be smarter than the whole security industry combined and pretend are not an interesting target for a dumb script having no concept of interest and attacking indiscriminately. But be ready for a glowing van outside and some angry dudes blasting your door for a crime commited by some a-hole on the other side of the globe.

[@davewagler1092]

I have never used Win7. I used WinXP for several years, then Win8. I now have a Win10 machine, which I will never quit using until it breaks, because the only thing I use it for is to drive a Canon laser printer. It's dual boot with Linux Mint, which is my daily driver.

[@cameronbosch1213]

Ah, printers, another enshittified product category!

[@RowiDankelsaft]

Why running Windows 7? Its easy actually - No store, UWP or any other crap from newer versions of Windows - Old hardware works, unlike Linux where its matter of luck - Old games we enjoy run without having to do weird configurations to make them run - We don't have to have arch users laughing at you or saying shit at you because you dont understand the instructions on their wiki, nor we have to care about drama from the devs of manjaro or because the ubuntu devs decided to take out support of anything and whatever. - The window manager let us take screenshots and record video without having to use workarounds or having to see app developers crying because their apps arent being accepted by the developers of the communication protocol dont care about adding support for it. - Linux is hard to use. And no, linux fanboys, you can't tell me otherwise, i daily drive Linux in most of my machines. Yesterday I had troubles where my wallpaper disappeared for no reason and right click got disabled in the desktop because i dared installing nemo on xfce. And I still have a weird glitch on firefox where after suspension I cannot upload any pictures to bluesky without restarting the entire browser otherwise I just get a black square- glitch that only happens on gtk. And after the latest set of updates a laptop with lxqt now hangs if I close it and then open it later; i can move the mouse but nothing is clickable. That and so on. Is Windows 7 insecure? Yes. Absolutely. But thats what all these patches do, attempt to make it less insecure. Is it familiar? Yes. In the end, laughing at people using Windows 7 does very little favors for adoption of Linux either. While I was watching the video the more the mocks I saw the more I wanted to just install 7 and try to roll with it. I enjoyed using that OS more than I enjoy Linux, actually.

[@garyshearer0]

also, it's the same tinkering, hacker ethos that brought a lot of hardware support to linux. so, taking the piss out of window 7 users is doing the same to many who built or made contributions.

[@szirsp]

Yeah. I also used and still use Linux (mostly VMs, raspberry where the HW support is not the issue, but I have read about those too, and was also able to experience it myself in the old Linux days before HDMI and DVI where you manually had to input vertical and horizontal refresh rates for VGA, CRTs...) Maybe Linux came a long way since then but I was always prevented from migrating over easily. Oh, you have NTFS Dynamic disk raid setup... well you better buy new drives to migrate your data to ext4 or whatever... But even with VMs I had to resort to restoring from backup or snapshot when some updates/upgrades failed and bricked it beyond my capability to repair it. So Windows 10 is not the only one with update issues. I have Windows 10 on my notebook, I hate it. Maybe I will install Linux on my other notebook to see HW support and running it on bare metal... but it doesn't change the fact that some software (mostly games with kernel anti-cheat) do not run on Linux, or you risk your account getting banned... So here I am to say the imaginary support group: I still daily drive Windows 7... I wish I didn't have to, but the alternatives are just not better for me :( But at some point I will give up and be forced to use... _____??? ... Probably a debloated Win10... that will also run out of support in 2025... And since Win11 doesn't support my HW (that still runs games fine in 4k), that's not an option... without hacking it. I don't want to burden the environment with e-waste, so I'm not planning to buy a new PC unless my HW gives out. It would be sad if stupid MS SW was the cause of unnecessary HW upgrade.

[@sellicott]

"What a bunch of idiots" I say, using RHEL 7.9 at work. Cries.

[@jamescobban857]

If you like having a multinational company backing your system, remember that RHEL is part of IBM.

[@joshuafhiggins]

i’d still be using windows 7 if it had driver support for my hardware

[@Otto-w5c]

If XP or 7 had support for my hardware and software I would be using it

[@jeder6915]

get help

[@joshuafhiggins]

@jeder6915 it works, and that’s more than i can say for a lot of software today. both linux and windows feel unstable to me, but windows is only getting worse and linux is always getting better.

[@DaffyDaffyDaffy33322]

I used windows 7 as long as i reasonably (some would say unreasonably) could before hopping ship to Linux. I held on and then ultimately left windows due to the obscene amount of tracking and built in ads that flood every part of windows. The fact that they had a stat for "how many times the calculator was opened" or "how many photos were opened in the photos app" was all I needed to know.

[@Jaymal10]

My question is why has nobody done a Linux KDE windows 7 skin with steam an sold it for some monetary value like they did with the windows 11 ones. My other question is when will this all start with the Windows 10 community because we know it’s going to happen lol. 😂

[@bootmii98]

It's already happening. We think just because we're over 50% of Windows users we can force Microsoft to give us a lifeline.

[@quarteratom]

Most programs don't work on linux. Linux breaks, linux is hard as f,uck. 20 year old computers can't run Windows 10. Hel,l Windows 10 also fu,cking loses support next year.

[@alexstone691]

Am i the only one that really liked win8.1, it looked ok was fast and no bs like in 10,11 but still was leaps faster than win7

[@stupidburp]

Win 8 interface was garbage. It also started the incremental increase in integrated malware from MS.Yes, it could be patched by third party apps to be less awful but it was not good out of the box.

[@alexstone691]

@stupidburp win8.1, i personally liked it and all garbage was uninstallable

[@ml11ML]

I always wonder what specifically you people mean when you say it was "faster than win7"? I used both win7 and 8(.1) and they both like any decently unbloated os were just as fast as the hardware you ran it on. If you mean UI was more responsive then in my experience they were also about equal (both far more snappy and responsive feeling than 10, and incomparable with the actual delays actions have after a click in 11 though).

[@RadikAlice]

8.1 is what 8 should've been, the UI was fit for touchscreen devices but never desktops. That was a bad, barely thought out attempt at unification

[@Yavor0971]

Windows 8 isn't that bad. It's my favourite version. After you spend like 5 minutes learning how to use it, it's perfectly fine, even on desktop. It could definitely be improved though, which Microsoft should've done instead of ditching it entirely for Windows 10's inferior UI.

[@steventechno]

I just assembled a windows 7 rig just for classic gaming based on the lga775 platform, and that I have an avenue to use an OS I truly love. When I got it set up, I love how minimalist and .. well, clean as W7 presents itself. Especially after using W11. Long live Linux!

[@BogdanTestsSoftware]

Hey, have you seen any hospital computers, say for echography / sound echolocation imagery? Or PointOfSale computers?

[@stefanalecu9532]

I just saw a Windows 7 PoS yesterday, they really don't want to move away from it

[@kompassorpigo7600]

I can understand people clinging on to Windows 8. It was a unique Windows in terms of its user experience, something you can't find in any other version of the OS, whereas Windows 7 and 10 were more or less identical. It was also the lightest Windows since _2000._ It was lighter and snappier than 7, Vista, XP, 10 and vastly lighter than 11. So I _do not_ understand why people cling on to 7.

[@markusTegelane]

I was very much using Windows 7 and even XP during the early Windows 10 days (so, around the 2015-2019 range). To give some context, I used the Windows Embedded POSready 2009 registry trick on XP to still get security patches during those years, since that OS was released in 2009, but still based on XP, however due to Microsoft Lifecycle policy, was obligated for 5 more years of extended support due to 2009 release date. The reason I sticked with 7 for so long was because my main computer had a Core 2 Duo CPU and 4GB of RAM, which technically could run Windows 10 (not 11 tough lol), but it was really slow. I had some familiarity with Linux back then, but I needed Windows for some stuff and I had limited space for doing dual boot setup (like 160GB limited).

[@Vyrewolf]

As someone who has started using linux... The kind of people fighting to keep using Windows, changing binaries and registry, kind of sound a bit like Linux users, honestly.