As Microsoft support for Windows 7 nears its scheduled end in early 2020, most federal agencies are well on their way to migrating their systems to Windows 10.
According to a recent report in Federal Times, less than a third of federal civilian agency computers were running on Windows 7 as of the middle of last summer.
An official with the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which has been tracking migration efforts across the federal government, told the publication that the majority of federal agencies had made significant progress.
Windows 7 has been the primary operating system on federal agency computers since its release in 2009, but support for the system is slated to end on January 14, 2020. After that date, according to Microsoft, PCs using Windows 7 will continue to work, but because they won’t receive software or security updates, they’ll be “more vulnerable to security risks.”
The exception involves Windows 7 users who pay to enroll in Microsoft’s Extended Security Update program. But Microsoft describes that program as a “last resort option” that will only provide updates “if and when available,” and the company plans to offer it for just three years.
MORE FROM FEDTECH: Find more information about Windows 7’s end of life.
Agencies Race to the Windows 7 Finish Line
Within the federal government, the push to leave Windows 7 behind first gained traction in early 2016, when the Department of Defense issued a directive to its agencies to move to Windows 10 by January 31, 2017.
“Rapid implementation” of the new operating system, the directive reads, “will improve our cybersecurity posture, lower the cost of IT, and streamline the IT operating environment.”
That 2017 deadline turned out to be too tight, but by the summer of 2018, the Marine Corps, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Army, as well as a growing number of civilian agencies, had either completed or were close to completing the migration process. This summer saw more agencies cross the Windows 10 finish line, and now it appears the race is wrapping up.
According to Federal Times, DHS had upgraded approximately 97 percent of its computers as of early August, and DOD reported that its upgrades were “substantially complete.”
The Department of Education also indicated that it had finished its migrations, while the General Services Administration, the Office of Personnel Management, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission all said they were on target to meet the January deadline.
Spokespeople at two other agencies — the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Labor — told Federal Times that their migrations were well underway as well. The VA reported its migration was just 40 percent complete, but also assured that it was “on track” to finish on time, while the Labor Department said it had only a few hundred computers to go before it reached 100 percent completion.
Upgraded Operating System Provides Better Speed and Security
At the Transportation Security Administration, where the agency paired its migration with a planned refresh of laptops and desktops to make the job simpler, CIO Russ Roberts tells FedTech that the agency is “99.9 percent” done.
The exceptions have involved equipment that won’t permit an operating system change, including certain legacy screening devices the agency uses at security checkpoints.
“The upgrade had some challenges that we needed to work through, but overall, it was accomplished in a timely fashion with no showstoppers,” Roberts says. The machines that the organization couldn’t move to Windows 10, he adds, “remain operational but are disconnected from any network and function in a standalone-only mode.”
While Roberts says the primary advantage of Windows 10 is the “improved IT security” it offers, other agency leaders have highlighted its relative speed and stability compared to its operating system predecessors.
“We’re seeing reduced latency and better network connectivity,” says Russ Miller, director of IT services with the Small Business Administration.