As you\’re probably aware, Microsoft has officially pulled the plug on Windows 7 support for everyone except those who are paying for the privilege via the company\’s ESU (Extended Security Updates) policy.
The final Windows 7 update was KB4534310. After that, unless you\’ve paid for ESUs, no further updates are coming, no exceptions.
Well, except for this one exception.
After Microsoft issued their final Windows 7 update, users complained of an issue where if you\’ve selected a custom wallpaper and you use \”stretch\” mode to display it, instead of getting a stretched version of the image you selected, you get a black screen.
Microsoft acknowledged the issue and announced that they\’d fix it for ESU members only, in the next update. This didn\’t sit well with the still surprisingly large Windows 7 user base, who complained loudly. The company caved, and has subsequently announced that a fix for the desktop image issue will be made available to all Windows 7 users.
It\’s a small victory, to be sure, but a victory nonetheless. Windows 7 users can pat themselves on the back for getting one final update out of Microsoft after the company announced end of support for Windows 7. It would be a mistake, however, to believe that this is the new norm. That all the users have to do is complain loudly about issues and Microsoft will swoop in with a fix.
The end of support for Windows 7 has been on the company\’s radar for more than two years. They\’ve announced it at regular intervals and bent over backwards to try and entice Windows 7 users to upgrade, and they\’ve gone out of their way to provide extended support.
With this fix, we\’ve essentially reached peak patience. It\’s extremely unlikely that the Windows 7 user base will get anything more from the company. If you\’re not already doing so, it\’s well past time to start making plans to migrate away from Windows 7.