Windows 7 finally checks out as POSReady 7 closes the till on an era

Windows Embedded POSReady 7, the last supported version of Windows 7, has hit the end of the road nearly five years after the desktop edition. Four years and ten months ago, Windows 7 reached the end of its life. For many Windows users, it was the classic version, and as The Register reported in 2019, for a fee it was possible …

[Doctor Syntax]

How many businesses will take kindly to replacing a till because Microsoft tells them to? Assuming any of the tills are still functioning. This is just a special case of taking some piece of specialised equipment and then tying its life to that of a piece of S/W. In this case it might have met its H/W EoL first.

[Evilgoat76]

Turns out...

Our Java based POS software was just as happy on Debian and the back end runs on Maria already. Grabbed the prefs files one night, blew away Windows 7, installed Debian, little bit of futzing with the touch screens and Java and off we went. All three and the spare are now Windows free, faster than they were and staff didnt notice any difference.

[UnknownUnknown]

Plenty of retailers still using but inc some UK Tier 1 and 2 retailers.

[collinsl]

Pretty sure Tesco still runs staffed tills on DOS 6.22

[Anonymous Coward]

Still in use

I am still supporting Win 7 devices

[Version 1.0]

Re: Still in use

So many Windows "updates" have resulted in features no longer working. So Microsoft completely stopping updates is the only advantage for all us old users.

Windows7 was very easy to install and very easy to learn to use every part of it, "upgrading" to every later version of Windows resulted in the systems being not so easy to use and bugs and malware issues appearing after a while. Your original Windows7 version is still so easy to work with. For years I upgraded systems to every later version of Windows at work and had so many workers pissed off with me but the newer versions of Windows have been very profitable for Microsoft, giving them everyone's data details and allowing adverts everywhere.

How is everything going these days, do I need to restart CP/M to have a operating system that works 100% every day?

[Liam Proven]

Re: Still in use

> do I need to restart CP/M to have a operating system that works 100% every day?

Idea: we crowdsource the dosh to buy Multiuser DOS from Integrated Systems Ltd in Thatcham, and we make it FOSS.

We have a 32-bit DOS-compatible multitasking OS. With networking.

Maybe we can get the FreeDOS folks on board and call it FreeDOS 2.

We throw out all the Windows bollocks and we go back to "as many apps as you want, but each one must be under 640kB".

:-D

[MJI]

Re: Still in use

I have used and written code which ran on REAL/32.

You could run MS Minesweeper on a server session. You could also run the MS GUI on a session to hammer the server to test other software for performance.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Still in use

Still support XP (in a VM) for a mechanic so he can run an old copy of Quickbooks he likes.

Mechanics, especially the dyslexic ones, don't like faffing with learning new tricks. Just imagine if Hammer.exe or Screwdriver.exe was in the hands of an MS Marketing Guru...

Also DOS for another client. Another Engineer. An old custom written 1988 accounts package and a few engineering calculation tools. Only managed to get that emulated a couple of years ago - up to that point I was also supporting the DOS hardware.

That accounts package has had two updates to the code since 1988. One to handle Y2K and another to add an extra digit to the invoice numbers. It is finally on a plan for retirement because the guy who commissioned it has died and the only person who knows how to use it wants to retire.

Sometimes the old adage of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" stands.

[bombastic bob]

Re: Still in use

I'm currently writing an application on Windows 7 that gets TESTED on 10 / 11, but all of the dev work gets done on 7.

It's not a web server or anything that runs out of user context, and is statically linked with NO CLR or ".Not" so NO need for THAT nonsense.

7 works just fine! I don't go online with it [or run as admin unless I have to]. Firewalled by a FreeBSD system. No worries.

Wouldn't it be GREAT if we could license Windows XP and 7 (source) and then just make them available with END-USER support as FOSS or a public project?

Or am I going to have to make a special system that does this using Wine...? [and still runs my Inuit accounting and tax software]

[MJI]

I dropped 7 this year

Now running Mint instead

[mark l 2]

I know what POS means in terms of retail, but the child in me still can't help but chuckle when i see POS and Windows in the same sentence.

[Dan 55]

Indeed. Windows is always POS ready, whatever the version.

[Liam Proven]

> chuckle when i see POS and Windows in the same sentence.

I can't lie, it was hard not to work a joke about this in there somehow.

[A. Coatsworth]

And why did you feel the need to avoid the joke?

Even if it were incredibly telegraphed, it wouldn't be any less funny... and MS deserves all the mockery it can get

[jetjet]

Why would someone want Windows OS on a dumb POS ?!