RVS Newsletter
Oct 2023

Welcome to the first addition of our new newsletter!

The purpose is to provide our customers with regular news and updates about our technology, products and services. We also plan to use it as a means to share technical information that has significant importance to our products or answers to common topics we are asked frequently.  

In this newsletter, we would like to focus on RVS software product compatibility with the many different versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system and also some information about Windows updates and Windows security. 

Microsoft Windows XP
Microsoft ended updates and technical support for Windows XP in April of 2014.
In late 2023 RVS products will also no longer be compatible with Windows XP.
If you are still running any RVS product on Windows XP, we highly recommend upgrading your computer to Windows 11 as soon as possible.

Microsoft Windows Vista
Microsoft experienced many problems with Windows Vista and ended updates and support in April of 2017. Because of the many compatibility and stability issues in this operating system, RVS does not recommend or support our products on this version of Windows.
If you are currently running Windows Vista, we highly recommend you upgrade to Windows 11 as soon as possible.

Microsoft Windows 7
Microsoft ended updates and technical support for Windows 7 in January 2020.
Currently RVS products continue to operate on Windows 7, however because Windows 7 no longer receives updates (including security enhancements) or support from Microsoft, we recommend upgrading your computer to Windows 11 as soon as possible.
In late 2024 RVS products will no longer be compatible with Windows 7 so we recommend upgrading to Windows 11 in advance of then.

Microsoft Windows 8
Microsoft ended updates and technical support for Windows 8 in January 2023.
Currently RVS products continue to operate on Windows 8, however because Windows 8 no longer receives updates (including security enhancements) or support from Microsoft, we recommend upgrading your computer to Windows 11 as soon as possible.
In late 2024 RVS products will no longer be compatible with Windows 8 so we recommend upgrading to Windows 11 in advance of then.

Microsoft Windows 10
Microsoft will continue to update and support Windows 10 until October 2025.
RVS product will continue to be compatible with Windows 10 at least unit October 2025 and potentially longer if Microsoft extends support for Windows 10 as it has with many of its operating system in the past.
If you are currently running Windows 10, we recommend starting to plan your upgrade strategy to Windows 11 by early 2025.

Microsoft Windows 11
Microsoft has not yet published the “End of Service Date” for Windows 11. However, based on the lifetime of their previous operating systems, we suspect it will continue to be supported until at least 2031.
RVS products are and will continue to be compatible with Windows 11 throughout its lifetime.

Microsoft Windows 12
Microsoft has not yet released the mainstream version of Windows 12 and we do not anticipate they will until sometime in 2024.
RVS has not yet tested it products with Windows 12 but we plan to do that when Microsoft announces a release date. Until then, we do not recommend upgrading to Windows 12 for use with RVS products.

Windows Updates
Keeping your Windows operating system up to date with the latest updates from Microsoft is critical to keeping your computer functioning optimally and protecting it from security threats. By default, Windows 10 and 11 check for, download and install operation system updates automatically. RVS recommends that you do not disable or significantly delay Windows automatic updates as this can lead to an unstable operating system and vulnerability to evolving security threats.

Windows Security
Microsoft offered basic built-in antivirus protection in Windows 7 called “Microsoft Security Essentials”. However, because it was not the strongest anti-virus protection on the market at the time many folks decided to instead use third party anti-virus applications such as Norton, McAfee, etc. In Windows 10 and 11, Microsoft greatly improved their built-in anti-virus protection and overall operating system security which in our opinion has eliminated the need to use third party antivirus protection applications for typical systems.
Unfortunately, cyber-attacks continue to evolve which now come in other forms than the traditional computer virus. Internet browsers have become a growing avenue for attacks that are in our opinion not fully protected through Windows 10 and 11 built in security. Therefore, if you regularly use a web browser, we recommend keeping your browser application up to date, and also consider adding Malwarebytes as a second level of protection.