Microsoft is working hard to get stubborn users off Windows 10 and onto its latest operating system. But Computex – or at least someone setting up the displays at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, where the largest PC-focused trade show is held every year – has seemingly decided that Windows 7 is perfectly fine.
When I first walked into Hall 1 via the main entrance this morning to pick up my Computex badge, this display wasn't on at all. Clearly it's in the process of getting set up for the show (which officially starts tomorrow). Hundreds of workers are also going to and from the show floor, setting up company booths for tomorrow's official unveiling.
But as I came back through the area on my way to the MRT (train) station after a meeting at a nearby hotel, I spotted a familiar Windows logo on the display, which clearly isn't from the modern Win 11 era. It's possible, of course, that someone just plugged an old PC into the display for diagnostic or basic setup purposes, but I didn't see any system sitting to the side. It's likely this is indeed the operating system that this Computex sign currently runs on. It certainly wouldn't be the first time we've seen key hardware running on old software. Hey, at least it appears to be an activated copy of Windows!
While I can't say for sure, this also seems to be the display that sits inside the main entrance to Hall 1, welcoming the tens of thousands of visitors (Computex says it was over 85,000 last year) to the trade show. I photograph this display every year, typically emblazoned with an image of Taipei 101 tower, one of the tallest buildings in the world. We often use a photo of this display as our cover image for our Best of Computex wrap-up article.
Launched in October of 2009, Windows 7 is hardly the cutting-edge operating system you'd expect to see paired with Computex 2025's "AI Next" slogan. But Windows 7 is when Aero Snap debuted, which is still probably my favorite Windows feature since XP added Wi-Fi support and I was able to compute from rooms that don't have an Ethernet cable.
But for basic tasks like digital signage – especially those that don't require an Internet connection (and the resulting security vulnerabilities that brings), Windows 7 is still perfectly serviceable. In fact, it was generally better than the OS that Microsoft spit out after it.
And while I don't hate Windows 11 in terms of general usability (I've been using it regularly since 2021), plenty of users find that Windows 10 still has everything they need from an OS. They also like it because it lacks intrusive features like Recall, questionably useful things like Copilot, and doesn't nag you quite as hard to log in with a Microsoft account and subscribe to seemingly every single service the company offers.
For those reasons and, of course, the abandonment of perfectly capable hardware, there will always be a contingent of PC owners hanging onto outdated Windows operating systems. I look forward to seeing digital signage like this one running Windows 10 at Computex 2031.
