The last thing I posted about here had nothing to do with my computer running W7 and other here have experienced it as well.
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/whats-this-error-message-mean.364655/
Are you suggesting that people using W10 never get hacked? What do the companies that are subject to all the ransomware hacks use if not W10?
That's quite a leap(and an error in logic) to think I'm suggesting anything of the sort. Of course Windows 10 users get hacked. Users of any OS get hacked. I'll go so far as to say that most "big" targets that would get hit by ransomware are very likely not running Windows in any form.
Any security is only as strong as its weakest link, and a lot of big system hacks happen from user error.
With that said, older OSs have known, and often very well documented, security flaws that can be exploited. These are there in every operating system ever made, but the key difference between something like Windows 10 and Windows 7, or MacOS 13 and OS X 10.6.8, is that on current(supported) OSs the security vulnerabilities are patched promptly after discovery. Old OSs don't get this.
I can appreciate people trying to help but maybe I'm just not as concerned with security or support as others may be, especially when I'm satisfied with the performance of the computer overall. I mean, if someone came on here asking for advice on replacing the water pump on their 1988 Buick, would you instead of giving that advice, tell them their car is a POS death trap and they should instead spend their money on a 2020 model with airbags, abs and all the driver assist nannys to keep them secure?
This is not a valid analogy for several reasons.
One of the big reasons is that, provided that a car is structurally sound, there's basically no reason why it can't continue functioning just as it did when new. Parts are normally available long after the manufacturer stops supporting it, and for cars with an enthusiast following often better parts than new are available.
Computers will continue to function indefinitely offline just as they always have. Trying to use Windows 98, for example, on the internet is like trying to drive a Model T on the interstate.
Aside from that, often cars can be reverse engineered. Source code for many OSs is kept under lock and key. Even macOS, which is heavily built on open-source underpinnings, has a lot of proprietary closed-source stuff on top of it. Linux is truly open source, and someone savvy could basically keep any version of Linux secure as long as they wanted to. Likely no one but the manufacturer can keep Windows perfectly safe, though.
If Windows 7 is such a risk, why do all the online banking sites still let you use it? They won't let you log on with Explorer anymore so why don't they make it so you can't get to your bank account if you are using W7?
IE has been left behind so far that it no longer supports many current internet protocols.
Windows 7 with more recent browsers is still current enough that it can "talk" to their systems, and from their end there's not a security risk to them for you to connect to it. The day is likely coming, and likely sooner than you expect, that you will no longer be able to use any available browser for Windows 7 on it.