Microsoft Corp.’s German subsidiary has said that the Windows 7 personal computer operating software is no longer “fit” for business users, in what looks like another effort to push companies to upgrade to Windows 10.

A translated version of Microsoft Germany’s post says that Windows 7 is no longer able to “keep up with the increased security requirements” today’s business users require. “Windows 7 is based on long-outdated security architectures,” the post adds, before recommending that “corporate customers in particular should deal with the transition to a modern operating system in time.”

Most likely Microsoft is referring to the expiration of support for Windows 7, which will come around in 2020 when the company stops providing security updates for the operating system. “Companies and users who are [migrating from] Windows 7 with their sensitive data within three years are faced with enormous dangers,” the post adds.

Microsoft might be right on that score. Earlier this week, the company issued an update that makes Windows 10 capable of mitigating some kinds of zero-day exploits.

Still, many companies will probably choose to ignore Microsoft’s advice to upgrade as soon as possible. After all, Microsoft has ended its free Windows 10 upgrade offer, which means companies still using the older OS would be required to make a substantial investment in the new platform. In addition, the post neglects to mention the fact that many companies spend lots of time and money on layered security that enhances Windows 7’s overall security.

Most likely, Microsoft’s update is a response to recent figures published by NetApplications and StatCounter, which show that Windows 10 adoption seems to have stalled in recent months. The company is still as keen as ever to get everyone onto its new OS, even though it’s now asking people to pay for the privilege.

Image credit: Windows Technical Support via Flickr.com