Solved Windows 7 Professional or Windows 8.1 Pro

[MickeyLittle]

I need some help trying to decide which operating system will better serve my wife's needs. She works from home and will remote in to various networks some of which are not ready for Windows 10. I am looking to purchase her a desktop PC for her home base and am wondering which operating system is more stable?

I believe it is Win 7 but am concerned about security certificates and updates.

 

[Plantje]

Why doesn't Windows 10 work?

 

[MickeyLittle]

A couple of her employers are not Windows 10 compatible. Security issues.

 

[Plantje]

If she works from home there is no way her personal os affects the security of her employer. They won't even notice what os she is using. And Windows 10 is the most secure of the three. If it is still not ok, I would pick Windows 8.1

 

[MickeyLittle]

If she works from home there is no way her personal os affects the security of her employer. They won't even notice what os she is using. And Windows 10 is the most secure of the three. If it is still not ok, I would pick Windows 8.1

She can't access some program. I'm not sure but that is what she is telling me.

 

[Plantje]

I definitely advice to look into that a little more before getting an outdated os. O, and if she needs to use a specific program: Look into compatibility mode

 

[MickeyLittle]

She says that she can't get on their server using Windows 10.

 

[GreyFox7]

Be careful what you buy, Windows 7 will not run or be supported on new CPUs.
Microsoft says new processors will only work with Windows 10

They may have backtracked on some Skylakes but AFAIK not on new Kaby Lake or Ryzen CPUs.

Blocking Windows 7, 8.1 updates for Kaby Lake, Ryzen chips appears imminent

 

[MickeyLittle]

Be careful what you buy, Windows 7 will not run or be supported on new CPUs.
Microsoft says new processors will only work with Windows 10

They may have backtracked on some Skylakes but AFAIK not on new Kaby Lake or Ryzen CPUs.

Blocking Windows 7, 8.1 updates for Kaby Lake, Ryzen chips appears imminent

I'm looking at a referb PC i5 3.4 ghz 2 TB harddrive 8gb ram with Win 7 Pro on it. And I guess my main questions are:
1) will it continue to receive updates for a while?
2) does it have security issues that win 8.1 pro doesn't have?

 

[GreyFox7]

I'm looking at a referb PC i5 3.4 ghz 2 TB harddrive 8gb ram with Win 7 Pro on it. And I guess my main questions are:
1) will it continue to receive updates for a while?
2) does it have security issues that win 8.1 pro doesn't have?

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13853/windows-lifecycle-fact-sheet

End of support
Client operating systems Latest update or service pack End of extended support
Windows Vista Service Pack 2 April 11, 2017
Windows 7* Service Pack 1 January 14, 2020
Windows 8 Windows 8.1 January 10, 2023
Windows 10, released in July 2015** N/A October 14, 2025

Translation... Win7 will get security updates until 2020, win8.1 until 2023.
No they will not repeat the extensions offered for XP with W7 or 8.

 

[Plantje]

So, yes it wil definitely receive updates. And if Windows 10 gets supported in the long run you van always do an upgrade with a machine like that.
Windows 7 vs. Windows 8.1 is for most people more a matter of taste than a matter of what is better. I had no issues with Windows 8.1, but a lot of people did.

 

[GreyFox7]

So, yes it wil definitely receive updates. And if Windows 10 gets supported in the long run you van always do an upgrade with a machine like that.
Windows 7 vs. Windows 8.1 is for most people more a matter of taste than a matter of what is better. I had no issues with Windows 8.1, but a lot of people did.

Id say the biggest issue people complained about was the Start menu which you can address with one of the Start Menu download/add-ons. Like Start8