There are a couple of important points to take into consideration here.
1. Most, but not all, third party antivirus vendors announced they will continue to support Windows 7 for at least two years after Windows 7 End Of Life (EOL). The official Windows 7 EOL date was January 14, 2020. Two years from then is January 14, 2022, which is now, just around the corner.
A few vendors have already ended support for Windows 7! Others will follow. As with previous versions of Windows, much depends on the unknown as to how long Windows 7 remains safe to use.
"IF" (when!) a currently unknown vulnerability is newly discovered, and due to EOL it is not patched by Microsoft, there will come a time when the antivirus vendors are technically unable (or simply unwilling to invest the resources) to develop the necessary code to secure that vulnerability from exploitation by the bad guys. Windows 7 will then become insecure, and worse, that system will become a threat to others.
Or at least it will be a threat if that computer is connected to a network.
2. It takes a lot of resources (time and money) for software and hardware driver developers to maintain current updates and drivers for their "legacy" products. And it takes a lot of resources for current hardware manufacturers to develop drivers for legacy operating systems. And that assumes that new hardware is even compatible with Windows 7 - that is not a given. Many hardware makers are already producing new hardware without Windows 7 drivers. And many application developers will, or already have released new versions of their programs and/or terminated support for Windows 7 too.
Maintaining and developing legacy support is a pure money pit with $0.00 return on those investments. Software developers and hardware makers would much rather consumers buy new versions of their products - products that are designed to support Windows 10 or even now, Windows 11. That is, products that bring in profit.
So, just as we have seen several times in the past, despite how great the legacy OS may be, or how much we like it better, the time is now to start planning for our next updates. If your current hardware supports the latest operating systems, then great. I urge you to update now. But if your current hardware does not support at least Windows 10, start planning and budgeting now for new hardware that will carry you many years into the future -
securely!
Oh, and BTW - mainstream support for Windows 8/8.1 already ended January 9, 2018. Extended support will end January 10, 2023. It is not too early for Windows 8 users to start planning their updates too.
