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Discontinued Windows 7 Support - News / Announcements - PIA Support Portal

Sep 8 2020

Discontinued Windows 7 Support

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On our most recent update to the PIA client, 2.4.0, we have ceased support for the Windows 7 operating system. The decision to no longer support Windows 7 coincided with the use of Direct3D 11 rendering in the desktop application and Microsoft’s decision to no longer support the operating system as of January, 14th 2020.

Microsoft Discontinuing Support

As Microsoft will no longer be releasing security patches for Windows 7, the operating system is inherently vulnerable to malicious attacks. As a result, while an encrypted tunnel can be established through the use of a VPN, and while this would secure your connection; as a privacy and security company, we are unable to ensure your security when using Windows 7.

Unsupported Rendering Interface

We have made the transition from the OpenGL interface to Direct3D 11 rendering. As users may have faced graphic driver issues while using PIA. The newly implemented Direct3D 11 rendering interface will not cause the same issues as its poorly supported predecessor. The move to Direct3D should result in better overall UI performance resulting in a better overall VPN experience.