Windows 7 has officially reached end of support. After today – unless some particularly egregious exploit is discovered in the weeks and months ahead – there will be no more security updates for Windows 7 (although businesses with volume licensing can purchase extended support for up to 3 years).

Windows 7 was/is kind of a mixed bag for me. It’s a fairly stable operating system, but the upgrades and re-installs are just painful.

Folks still running Windows 7 have to decide among their options:

1. Keep running Windows 7. If you stick to reputable websites and don’t download and install any new software, you’ll probably be OK, though your risk of exploits and infections will increase over time. If you need Windows 7 because you have an older peripheral (printer, scanner, etc.) that isn’t supported by Windows 10, then disconnecting the Windows 7 machine from the Internet (and using a different machine with a newer operating system for Internet access) is a good solution.
2. Try upgrading to Windows 10. This may work, though if your hardware is very old it might not be able to run Windows 10 very well (or at all). Microsoft has a tool that can be downloaded which will evaluate your machine for compatibility with Windows 10. (Keep in mind, too, that many people do not like the telemetry that Microsoft built into Windows 10 – collecting information about the programs you run, the sites you visit, etc.).
3. Buy a new computer with Windows 10 (or buy a newer model Mac).
4. Switch to the Linux operating system. This is my generally recommended option for those without the desire or funds to buy something new. Mature distributions of Linux such as Linux Mint and Ubuntu tend to install without a fuss, especially on older hardware. And because Linux generally requires fewer resources to run well, it tends to work great on older machines.

Keep in mind that Linux is not Windows – as a rule, it will not run Windows programs. But Linux versions such as Linux Mint and Ubuntu come bundled with web browsers, media players, photo viewers/editors, and LibreOffice (which can open/edit/save Microsoft Office documents). For those who absolutely need a specific Windows application, there’s the option of running Windows as a “virtual machine” inside Linux.

There are many guides, such as this one, for converting your Windows 7 physical machine into a virtual machine.

If you’re nervous about trying or installing Linux on your own, ask a techie family member, coworker, or friend to help you. You can choose to install Linux alongside Windows, choosing which operating system to boot into each time you start your computer, if you want to give Linux a test drive over time (and to become familiar with it at your own pace).

But regardless of your choice, the time for choosing is here.