Microsoft had deferred the Windows 7 Extended Security Updates deadline beyond January 2020, given that Enterprises are still grappling to upgrade to the newer operating system, so that now the extended support will culminate to three years of the deadline.
The company in a bid to make the migration easier and smoother, has launched what it calls "FastTrack", which program comes free with the purchase of a minimum of 150 licenses for any of the eligible Enterprise subscription plans or services, including Office 365 as well as Microsoft 365 (M365), the pricier bundles Office and a plethora of other management and security tools.
While Windows 7 Extended Security Updates will continue through to January 2023, it will only be available for PCs running Windows 7 Professional/Enterprise edition, with those versions of Windows obtained through volume licensing deals.
According to Microsoft, FastTrack will also help in deploying a service or subscription, with Desktop App Assure, it will work with customers to ensure that the desktop application running under Windows 7 will continue to run on Windows 10 after the successful migration. Albeit, the tool is designed to assist only Enterprise or Professional customers migrating from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 Enterprise or Professional, to Windows 10 Enterprise.
Microsoft, however did emphasize on Professional-to-Enterprise migration too, and will provide Windows 10 deployment guidance to help in the upgrade from Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 Professional to Windows 10 Enterprise. But, it should be noted that FastTrack does not involve Microsoft's sending of engineers to an organization to supervise the OS upgrade, instead representatives are made available for consultation to provide guidance.
Microsoft will continue to offer customers on Windows Server's Extended Security Updates patches for "Critical" or "Important" rated vulnerabilities, with the top two tiers in its four-step risks ranking system.
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