The party ends on January 14, 2020. With more than a decade on its shoulders, Windows 7 will lose official support, and 30 percent of the market will wonder how to keep getting support beyond the deadline. From a technical standpoint, Windows 7 will receive additional hotfixes through alternative editions, while other patches for newer versions could be adapted. The folks at 0Patch announced they will 'adopt' Windows 7, analyzing available fixes and publishing small ports, always prioritizing critical and urgent bugs.
Using unsupported versions of Windows is nothing new. Beyond Microsoft's apocalyptic warnings, it's still easy to find copies of Windows XP running as if it were the first day. From next-generation aircraft carriers to nuclear sarcophagi, it's clear that under the right conditions, these operating systems can extend their usefulness, and everything indicates that Windows 7 will follow that path. Official support ends on January 14, 2020; however, Redmond will have to step over the corpses of its users before they give it up.
Alternatives? Officially, paying for patches, as happened with Windows XP at the time. The so-called Extended Security Updates are only available for Windows 7 Professional and Enterprise, in addition to all Embedded versions, Windows Server 2008/R2, and SQL Server 2008/R2. The maximum extension is three years, and all third-party patch distribution systems will stop working.
But here's the key: After 2020 there will be patches for Windows 7, just with more limited access. At the same time, Windows 8.x and Windows 10 will receive hotfixes that could be adapted with enough effort. And that's when the 0Patch team steps in. Their 'micro-patch' platform is very popular, and a great candidate to cover the hole that Windows Update will leave in home versions of Windows 7 starting in January. 0Patch confirmed they will 'adopt' Windows 7, and will include it in their micro-patch scheme. How? In four steps:
The Micro-Patch Plan
- Every 'Patch Tuesday', they will analyze Microsoft's reports on fixed vulnerabilities that could be applied to Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008, and that present a risk large enough to require a micro-patch.
- For those high-risk vulnerabilities, they will do a Windows Update check on supported versions of Windows (read Windows 10), to confirm that the affected code in Windows 10 is present in Windows 7 and Server 2008.
- If that code is present, at 0Patch they will try to obtain a proof of concept that triggers the vulnerability. Sometimes they receive them from researchers, and other times they create them themselves.
- Once 0Patch members have the proof of concept and know how the vulnerability was neutralized, they will create a port in the form of micro-patches for Windows 7 and Server 2008, with the goal of testing them against the PoC. If everything goes well and there are no side effects, the micro-patch could be online in less than 60 minutes, sometimes faster than supported Windows versions.
The standard free 0Patch client should be suitable for independent Windows 7 users in the future, but administrators of large networks will need a more centralized service, and the company's efforts are heading in that direction. Additionally, that service will include the possibility of creating small 'test groups' that serve to evaluate each micro-patch before general deployment, always with the option to undo with one click, without restarts.
If 0Patch's solution doesn't appeal to you, remember: Windows Embedded Standard 7 will have support until October 2020, Windows Embedded POSReady 7 will continue a year more until October 2021, and if the plan is to escape to Windows 10... Windows 8.1 will receive patches until January 10, 2023.
Official announcement: Click here
