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Patch reliability is unclear, but widespread attacks make patching prudent. Go ahead and patch, but watch out for potential problems. |
ON SECURITY By Susan Bradley You need to start planning now. Although Windows 8.1 may seem lost in the cobwebs of time, its small user base loved it a
[See the full post at: It’s the end of the road for Windows 8.1]
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
Last time on June 25 you said “Windows 8.1 is getting close to the finish line” in the headline. And now today, 16 days later, you said “It’s the end of the road for Windows 8.1” when it still has 6 months support ahead.
I don’t agree with either statement since I don’t consider “End of Support” (EOS) being equivalent to “End of Life” (EOL). I will continue to use EOS operating systems like Windows 7 / Windows 8.1 (when it goes out of support after January 2023) on my PCs when necessary. On my Intel Mac mini I still run MacOS Mojave (the preinstalled OS at the time it was sold) which is EOS. I did not upgrade to any later MacOS (and I do not plan to upgrade to MacOS Ventura when it is released later this year) as I don’t see anything useful or valuable in the later OS versions.
I shall continue what I did by clinging to older versions (and not upgrade unless absolutely necessary) as this procedure has carried me for the past 7 years (since the time when Windows 10 was first released and I rejected it out of hand).
I am not saying any of you should do what I do but since I don’t have any significant problems with it I don’t see the need to change. As things stand unless I were to upgrade my hardware (and I hope to delay that for as long as I can) I don’t see why I need to run the so-called “current” OS versions like Windows 10 / 11 or MacOS Big Sur / Monterey (and soon Ventura). If I were to run, say, Windows 10 LTSC (which is the only version of Windows 10 worth using in my view) it will be because I want to, not because I need to.
Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.
I still run Win 7 and find it to be very stable and I like it very much. Someone on this site once said that “Win 8.1 was the most stable version of Windows”. Personally, when I go online with Win 7 I stay on websites I trust like this one and a few others. I don’t worry too much because I’m very careful where I go and especially what I click on and download while on Win 7. I use Firefox which is a very secure web browser, and I keep it updated.
Eventually, I know I won’t be able to use Win 7 because it will be too risky; but in my mind, that day hasn’t come yet. I made up my mind long ago that Win 7 would be my last Windows operating system and am now also using Linux Mint Cinnamon which is very much like Win 10. Firefox runs and looks the same on my Linux as it does on Win 7. Most of all, Linux program and security updates are a breeze compared to MS Windows!
Beyond or even before EoS, one can always install a free linux distro, dual boot and keep Win8.1 offline. Same for VM’s, Linux (host), Win8.1 (guest, offline for specific apps/programs not available to linux)
Where there’s a will, there’s a way 
If you are going to use Linux for most things, the time spent in Windows in a VM could be so minimal that the bad bits about Windows 10 are no longer much of a bother. The reasons people would want to use older versions of Windows like 8.1 is to avoid the negative bits about Windows 10 or 11, but you avoid those negative bits in Linux as well.
In a VM, Windows is effectively defanged. In terms of the privacy stuff, it can’t send to Microsoft that which it does not know, and if you do nearly everything from outside of Windows, all the virtual Windows will know about is those few things you do there rather than in the host OS (Linux).
Virtual Windows can’t hold your computer hostage with its demands to install updates… if it starts something that ordinarily can’t safely be stopped for fear of creating an unbootable system, it does not tie up your entire PC until it completes. Only the VM is affected, and you can continue to do whatever you wish in Linux while it chugs away, even when doing the bits of the updates that happen between the system start and the point where the OS becomes usable again. You can stop the update and roll back to the point Windows was in when you booted it, or let the update continue while you do something else, or save the virtual system state (which you could use if you want the PC to shut down or sleep right now, as you might if the PC is a laptop and you are about to dash out the door to catch a plane or something like that ) and pick the updates again later, when it is more convenient for you.
The control Microsoft took away is yours once again when Windows is in a VM. But if for some reason you would rather use an older Windows in the VM, you can do that more safely than on bare metal too, even if you use it online. Since you would be doing all of your general purpose computing in Linux, the exposure the virtual Windows would have to the threat vectors would be greatly reduced. Any potential zero day that might be able to affect a PC with unsolicited packets (threats initiated from outside, out there on the web) will run into the Linux bits first, not any potentially out of date Windows drivers or components. When you are done in Windows, you can (and should) roll it back to the way it was at initial boot, so any malware that might have gotten in (not likely, but still possible) will be eliminated.
There has to be some OS on the bare metal, or the PC will not work. Even if you want to use Windows for those things for which there is no alternative, the bare metal OS need not be Windows! Linux is free and supported forever (within reason… very very old hardware that is essentially never used may be dropped to save on the resources to maintain support for it, but Linux has long supported hardware that is obsolete by any other measure), so why not use that on the bare metal and put the one that doesn’t think it needs to obey you, the machine owner, in a nice safe box?
Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/32GB & GTX1660ti, Kubuntu 24.04
Acer Swift Go 14, i5-1335U/16GB, Kubuntu 24.04 (and Win 11)
So those of you that continue to run older systems whatever they may be, how about telling people like me, on the fence, EXACTLY WITH DETAIL what you do to stay safe and avoid problems on the World Wide Web. Thanks!!!
To protect my older systems, I use most of the methods and measures described in the first line of my signature below.
If you need more details on any of them, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.
Cybertooth,
First, that’s an interesting ID for log in purposes and makes me wonder the origin/meaning of your “handle”.
Second. Thank you for taking the time and energy to document how you do it. I will spend time digesting your thoughts and ideas. Some of your suggestions I’ve been using for years and others require some schooling up. I appreciate your help. Bill T.
You’re welcome, Bill. Good luck with the measures you decide to take!
About my online name, it came to mind on the spur of the moment when I was first signing up for Woody’s site. Searching for some fanciful name, I thought of “saber-toothed tiger” and then it hit me that changing “saber” to “cyber” would be fitting, considering this is an online forum.
We’ve been running 8.1 on a laptop and a desktop since we bought them and both of us love the system. I’m not entirely tech savvy, but I’m not a total dunce either.
Wondering if it’s worth trying to update both machines to 10, or if it’s time to bite the bullet and replace them. I’m loathe to since both still run well and it seems a little extravagant to replace them, but I’m not entirely sure how to check if they are 10 compatible, or how to ensure we don’t lose documents in doing an upgrade. If we do need to replace we’d be looking for cheap but reliable options.
Until today if anyone had asked I’d have said both were just a couple of years old, but I’ve looked at the e-receipts and we purchased in 2014! Like I said neither machine is giving issues, but I don’t want to take chances on security once 8.1 loses support.
Anyone with more knowledge available to provide suggestions?
My Win 7 computer was built in 2012 by a friend who runs a computer shop. Over ten years old and no problems so far. I do keep a newer back up (cloned) hard drive just in case something does happen though. I also have an ISO backup on an external USB hard drive.
I’m a person who likes to make things last as long as possible. My house is a museum of old electronics and cars from as far back as the 1960’s. You’ve got a while to go yet before your Win 8.1 is not usable. I’d hang on to it/them.
I couldn’t agree with you more, Charlie.
Shanfan:
Hang on to the Win 8.1 machines and please don’t listen to the Chicken Little “The Sky is Falling” propoganda machine of Microsoft regarding the end of service for 8.1. Those machines certainly will be usable for quite a while yet and as the old saying goes, and pardon my grammer, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
This is just my opinion, of course, but I wouldn’t be in any hurry to move to Win 10 if there was no real reason to.
Windows 10 system requirements (microsoft.com)
Can you check to see if your machine can support an upgrade to 10? The 8.1 to 10 upgrade is still out there and works.
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
How much memory (RAM) is in each machine? The reason I ask is that Windows 10’s minimum memory specification is 2 GB (gigabytes) for a 64 bit system and 1 GB for a 32 bit system, but to even have it resemble a functional operating system you need a real world minimum of 8 GB and preferably 16 GB.
Does either computer, the desktop or the laptop, have the capacity to support 8 GB, but very preferably, 16 GB?
Dear Microsoft, here are 4 reasons why I hope you will consider extending support of Win 8.1 for at least another year into 2024:
I think your points are very good ones. Ideas that I wouldn’t think of right away because I’m in the mode of thinking about the equipment; the hardware and software, system protection and not the impact to all of us 8/8.1 users that are very content with what we have. It’s obvious that many users are like Shanfan with the belief that, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I’m there, baby!! I prefer equipment that lasts a long time that I can also work with and work on. But Microsoft is just like the rest of the manufacturing world in that the philosophy is always to reinvent, bring out a newer shinier product and get us to dump what we have and are comfortable with so, in the end, Microsoft remains competitive, earns more profit and the shareholders are kept happy and employees are on the payroll. That’s another subject, though. I will hope that Microsoft management and bean counters will read and think hard about J9438’s commentary because the ideas are out of the realm of what they are used to thinking about or want to think about. I’m also realistic. As with all companies that make decisions going forward the decision to drop support for 8/8.1 is part of their model, was made a long time ago and the cement has cured, if you will. Today I think that EOS will occur on M’soft’s timeline and many of us will be looking for hints and kinks from all of you that are more knowledgeable, and Susan too, about what to do and how to do it in order to keep what we have going into the future. Fortunately, at this time, I can buy a new PC if I need to but that can change in a moment and also I don’t want to. Thank you to all of the July 17 commenters for your input. I will stay tuned!!
It pains me too @J9438, although a realistic possibility is, Win8.1 could be extended in-line with server 2012 R2 up to 2023-10
After all, microsoft are producing patches for the same codebase until that date.
Note to Satya: A gesture of goodwill, for a very small marketshare percentage given the post pandemic suffering, loss and financial hardship./sniff
They will keep using Win 8.1 without security updates and hackers will have a field day!
With Win 8.1’s 2% market share hackers won’t bother, nor will Microsoft.
Oh Alex, don’t be so cheerful!
With Win 8.1’s 2% market share hackers won’t bother,
My statistics may not be correct. I Goggled and Googled until exhausted trying to find an exact figure of number of Window’s users an all I got was share percentage. However, one article did mention 1.4 billion Windows in use worldwide.
So if that is correct then 2% of 1.4 billion is 28 million Win 8.1 users. That is a lot of potential victims!! And yes that also shows why Microsoft is salivating to sell an extra 28 million copies of Win 11.
But like the car manufacturers back in the 50’s who learned that planned obsolescence brought in foreign competition and Congressional legislation to require maintenance support, will this encourage Chrome, Apple, and others to work harder for a larger piece of the Windows pie? Already we have seen recent legislation to require cell phone makers to provide repair manuals and parts so consumers can DIY repairs.
Already we have seen recent legislation to require cell phone makers to provide repair manuals and parts so consumers can DIY repairs.
Good idea. Microsoft should supply tools to win 8.1 users for DIY security patches.
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