Antivirus for Windows 7: support continues

[Karlston]

Antivirus for Windows 7: support continues

All antivirus solutions remain supported on Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system after Microsoft ended support for it on January 14, 2020.

 

The Windows 7 operating system has a large usage base even after support end. While the trend showed a decline for some time, latest NetMarketShare usage stats suggest that it is still installed on over 30% of desktop devices worldwide.

 

Enterprise customers and businesses may buy support extensions for up to three years; Microsoft decided against making the same offer to users of Home versions of Windows 7.

 

While Microsoft's support ended in January, some of the company's products and most third-party products continue to support Windows 7 at least for the time being.

 

Antivirus solutions are essential for devices that connect to the Internet or public networks, especially if the operating system itself is out of support and won't receive security updates anymore.

 

Tip: Home users may use the solution provided by 0Patch to receive some free (some paid) security patches for Windows 7 after support end.

 

 

Antivirus solutions never provide 100% protection and that is even more so the case when it comes to operating systems that are not supported with security patches anymore. A good antivirus solution may however prevent certain attacks or reduce the impact that these attacks have, especially if it is updated regularly.

 

German antivirus testing institute AV Test wanted to know which antivirus solutions would continue to support Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system after support end, and for how long.

 

The institute contacted antivirus companies to find out and published a table of its findings on its website. According to the information, most antivirus solutions continue to be supported on Windows 7 for at least two years. All companies continue to support their antivirus solution with signature updates for the time being.

 

Here is the summary:

• Microsoft Security Essentials -- no more program updates, but signature updates continue to be provided.
• Sophos -- on premise support until December 2020, cloud-managed support until June 2021.
• McAfee -- at least until December 2021.
• F-Secure - at least until December 2021.
• Avira -- support ends November 2022.
• AhnLab, AVG, Avast, Bitdefender, Bullgard, Carbon Black, ESET, FireEye, G Data, Ikarus, Kaspersky, K7 Computing, Microworld, PC Matic, Quickheal, Sqqrite, Symantec/NortonLifeLock, ThreatTrack / Vipre, TotalAV, Trend Micro -- support for at least 2 years.

 

 

Source: Antivirus for Windows 7: support continues (gHacks - Martin Brinkmann)