Microsoft plans to extend support for its Windows Defender ATP service to devices running older operating systems, including Windows 7.
The decision, announced this week, is a turn-about for Microsoft, which had limited the service to Windows 10 machines. In a post to a company blog, a Microsoft director cited customers’ heterogeneous set-ups to explain the change.
“We know that while in their transition, some [customers] may have a mix of Windows 10 and Windows 7 devices in their environments,” wrote Rob Lefferts of the Windows group’s security and enterprise team. “We want to help our customers achieve the best security possible on their way to Windows 10 ahead of the end of support for Windows 7 in January 2020.”
