Microsoft Leaves Windows 7 Vulnerable

One of the things about Microsoft is that they do some absurd things to promote their new operating systems. The recent blunder that the company did was releasing a patch for fixing the issues with their latest Windows 8.x franchise leaving behind their most popular operating system Windows 7. According to the latest surveys, even after the release of the Windows 8.1 operating system, Windows 7 holds more than fifty percent of the market. The fact was found by two independent security researchers, who built a tool to test the Windows 7 vs Windows 8 libraries.

After comparing about 900 libraries, the researchers were able to conclude that while Microsoft patched the security issues with zero day attacks on Windows 8 operating system, they have left their popular operating system Windows 7 ajar. One of the security researchers, Moti Joseph commented on the issue as follows, "If Microsoft added a safe function in Windows 8, why does it not exist in Windows 7? The answer is simple, it’s money -- Microsoft does not want to waste development time on older operating systems. They want people to move to higher operating systems."

In their Windows 7 vs Windows 8 analysis of different libraries in the operating systems, they were able to find that four security functions were updated in Widows 8 while the Windows 7 libraries were left untouched. The researchers stated that it is simple to create the tools and Governments or hackers could make use of the tool for getting information from Windows 7 devices. If the hackers find the missing patches in Windows 7, they would be able to exploit the issue for their needs. If you consider the stake here, it is better to either release a patch for Windows 7 or upgrade to Windows 8.

When we approached Microsoft for commenting on the allegations, the company spokesperson stated as follows, "We follow an extensive process to develop security updates for all supported devices and services, involving a thorough investigation, update development, and testing for compatibility among other operating systems and applications. We are continually working to improve our products and we encourage researchers to coordinate vulnerability disclosure with Microsoft in order to help protect customers.”

With the company intimidated about the issue, we can hope that the patch for Windows 7 would be soon released and the issue will be fixed.

Making The Switch From Windows 7 To Windows 8

Windows users are generally hesitant when it comes to upgrading to the latest Microsoft OS. And, this is for a good reason. Microsoft sometimes fails to meet with user expectations, and many users later go back to the old OS they upgraded from. This has happened this time around as well. Soon after the release of Windows 8, the internet was flooded with Windows 7 vs Windows 8 comparisons pointing out many flaws in the new OS.

Is upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8 a good idea?

Windows 8 is a different OS altogether, and has an entirely different user interface. The OS options and settings are arranged in a different way, and the Start Menu has been completely removed from the platform. So, all the Windows 7 vs Windows 8 arguments start with these changes in the OS design and user interface.

Clearly, Microsoft designed this new OS Metro UI for touch screen devices. Microsoft took cue from the popularity of touch screen oriented operating systems and tried to apply the same concept in latest Windows OS. This was indeed necessary, but the way they went about it was somewhat wrong.

Microsoft introduced the same smartphone-style UI in the desktop and laptop versions of Windows 8. So, if you are going to switch from Windows 7 to Windows 8, it might be a good idea to first install the trial version to see if you can manage to use the Metro UI on a traditional mouse and keyboard device.

Though Windows 8 is designed to work in the desktop mode too, this does not function as smoothly as the full version desktop operating systems like Windows 7 or XP. Clearly, the desktop mode is meant only as an optional feature as Microsoft bet heavily on their new Metro UI.

Therefore, if you want to upgrade to Windows 8, it is better to go to Windows 8.1 OS directly, which comes with the option for booting to Windows desktop mode directly. Yet again, you will not find the Start menu in the desktop mode either. In Windows 8.1 though, there will be a Start button, which will give some of the useful OS options and a link to the Windows Start Screen apps instead.

If the online rumors are true, the full Start Menu will come back in Windows 9 OS. So perhaps, you should wait until then before you upgrade from Windows 7.