Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 will continue to be unofficially supported for another two years

ESU allows businesses and organizations with computer systems still running the two operating system platforms mentioned above to continue to receive important and necessary security updates to help ensure system safety against threats. cyber threat.

Although Microsoft has committed to providing the final security update for Windows 7 in January 2023, many businesses still feel uneasy because the operating system transition process for the entire system is clearly not happening at all. Simple and extremely expensive.

Fortunately, a platform called 0patch is emerging as an alternative to Microsoft in keeping older operating systems that have passed the ESU stage such as Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 will continue to be protected. protection from cyber threats, albeit in an unofficial way. 0patch announced this week that it will provide security support plans for Windows 7, as well as Windows Server 2008 R2 devices until at least January 2025.

"We have decided to continue providing security patches for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 to protect users against serious vulnerabilities that can be exploited in the wild. The cost will be a fraction of the ESU program from Microsoft'.

0patch's micropatch patches will be applied directly in the memory of running processes, instead of changing the system's executable file system. So, users basically won't need to restart their computer to complete the update installation process.

If users are using Microsoft's ESU program and want to continue receiving security updates with 0patch, they can simply apply all remaining ESU updates. Then, install 0patch "Free Agent" on Windows 7 or Server 2008 R2 computers and register them to a 0patch account.

In March this year, the 0patch team released an unofficial fix for an old Windows vulnerability. Three months later, they also deployed a patch for a zero-day vulnerability in Microsoft's Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool. Therefore, the quality of the updates that 0patch provides is a factor you can rest assured about.

Lesley Montoya

Update 16 October 2023