With Microsoft ending its support for Windows 7 on January 14, 2020, the end of life period for the OS is officially upon us.

The end of life for Windows 7 means no more bug fixes, patches, updates, functionality improvements, or security updates. For a small to medium-sized business, it means you’re leaving yourself vulnerable to attacks.

Besides security, it also means you aren’t experiencing the highest quality workflow that your business needs to function at its best. There are many benefits of Windows 10, and in this article, we’re explaining the many reasons why you should upgrade.

10 Reasons to Upgrade From Windows 7 to Windows 10

Here are the ten most important reasons you should move on past Windows 7 to Windows 10.

1. Security

Windows 10 comes equipped with the Secure Boot feature that Windows 8 users are familiar with. They’ve made some improvements to it to make it even more secure. Unlike with Windows 8, you can no longer bypass this feature. They’ve also included security features such as Device Guard, Windows Hello, and Microsoft Passport.

BitLocker also helps employees manage many different logins with smart alerts and notifications if something doesn’t seem right. There are automatic blocking protocols as well that take security out of the hands of the user and put it into the hands of the operating system.

2. Rolling Updates

Since the beginning of time, Microsoft has always charged its users for upgrades that have led us down this endless path of always waiting for the next one. We’ve moved from Windows XP to Windows 7, then 8, and then back to 7.

Some experts believe that Windows 10 will be the last operating system we use due to rolling updates. They’re treating this more as a “software as a service,” so upgrades will continually get rolled out automatically depending on which package you have.

3. Improved Scalability

Instead of having to purchase a number of software licenses for all your users, Microsoft is moving to a subscription-based model. This helps improve the scalability of your business because you can increase your package as the business need grows.

This point helps in a variety of ways. It helps improve security while also keeping operating costs in an understandable range. The business can avoid the staggering upfront cost of acquiring staff because there is no need to purchase a new license each time a new employee comes on board.

4. Speed and Performance

Speed is a huge factor for many businesses as our attention spans get shorter, yet we continue to try and squeeze more into a workday. Compared to Windows 7, the speed of startup is incredibly fast. With DirectX 12, this 3D engine helps improve speed and performance by beefing the OS up to handle more.

5. Cross-Platform

With more and more employees taking their work home with them, it’s important that the operating system function well across all devices. Workers are switching from mobile to desktop to tablets throughout the day, and everything must look the same and display properly across these devices.

Windows 10 allows you to easily transition between devices even when you’re working on a single file. The timeline feature also helps by allowing you to scroll back through a list of files to easily locate previous information so you can quickly pull it back up.

There is also a file on demand section that takes the data from the computer storage and moves them to OneDrive. Here you can pull them back up at any time without slowing down the processing speed of the computer.

6. Action Centers

As with everything else in this world, we need notifications of everything that is going on. Windows 10 provides that for you. The Action Center on Windows 10 will notify you when you receive an email, a message from one of your apps, or if there was a recent update to the system.

Something we like a lot about Windows 10 is these updates aren’t intrusive, and you can turn them off using focus mode. Most of the time, you only receive the notifications that matter to you, and the rest seem to blend into the background.

7. Microsoft Edge

While most of us are loyal to Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge provides a fresh alternative to the dated Internet Explorer. This browser offers new features like webpage markup and reading mode. We’ve also noticed that Edge is less demanding on your battery than Chrome.

In the coming years, Edge will get replaced by the Chromium Browser, but we hope that it keeps a lot of the useful and unique features of Microsoft Edge. 

8. End of Support

With the end of Windows 7 comes the end of support and warranty claims. If you’re currently using Windows 7 in your business, you’re leaving yourself wide open to security and workflow problems.

Since Microsoft is no longer updating or applying patches to Windows 7, you’re not receiving any cybersecurity protection, and Microsoft will no longer back up any warranty issues you have associated with the Operating System. For that reason alone, it is time to upgrade to Windows 10.

9. On-Demand Syncing

We’re in the age of cloud storage, and it will dramatically improve your workflow when appropriately implemented. Windows 10 helps you with this using the Files on Demand option.

This standard desktop folder allows you to access files from OneDrive, and you can access them remotely from anywhere as long as your work computer is on. This feature is excellent for companies that allow remote work or “work from home” options.

10. Nearby Sharing

We love the fact that you can send photos or documents using Bluetooth and without the need for an internet connection. If you need to get a file moved to another device quickly, you can share it using the nearby sharing app. We only hope that they will soon add this feature to mobile because that would improve the star power of this feature.

Is Your Business Ready to Upgrade to Windows 10?

If you’re ready to upgrade your business to Windows 10, we have an exclusive phone-only deal to get your business on the right track.

Get more details by calling (02) 8412 0000 and mention the “2020 Windows 7 EOL Exclusive Deal.” This incredible offer is only available until the end of January 2020, so be sure to call today and get your deal!