It’s like dropping a Ferrari engine into a lawnmower and hoping for the best. Neither is designed to run on the latest hardware, which may cause system slowdowns and even crashes. To be honest, that may as well be decades in the fast-moving tech industry. Windows 7 and 8 are both several years old. If you delay this upgrade for much longer, you’re leaving yourself open to the following risks: 1.

However, the solution is simple: upgrade to Windows 10 to secure all the extra security features and functionality that comes with the new operating software. This will leave you vulnerable to a wide range of risks including cybersecurity attacks and hardware inefficiencies. What does this mean? While you can still use Windows 7 and Windows 8 after support ends, you won’t receive any further security or functionality updates. Additionally, Microsoft discontinued mainstream support for Windows 8 in January 2018, and will end extended support in January 2023. That’s because Microsoft ended mainstream support for Windows 7 way back in January 2015, and its extended support will end in January 2020. If you’re still running Windows 7 or Windows 8, you could be vulnerable to a range of risks.