I am a dupe with a preference to using Windows 7 despite it ending being supported by Microsoft in January. Since I employ both a firewall and a decent anti-virus, I continue to use a system I have setup to my preferences a decade ago. It's a familiar piece of equipment that keeps me contributing to the companies I'm involved with. I understand Microsoft feels that Windows 10 is sooooo superior that they were willing to sunset the most popular desktop computing operating system in the world.
And I DO have a Win10 box that was built to my specs. I originally tried to buy a fan-less system out of Israel that was more than three times the price of any computer I've ever bought. Turns out the pandemic got in the way of that deal, so I had Patrick build a system that will eventually be something I'm happy to be using.
Some day.
I have to find time to spend seven weeks (roughly) to customize the new machine so that I can transfer my day to day work over to it. SEVEN WEEKS. That makes Microsoft's gunpoint assault on my Windows 7 system more costly to me than the hardware. So, a raspberry to Microsoft.
Now, let me introduce you to Personal Internet Access, aka PIA. It's a VPN. And in case you don't have your three-letter dictionary handy, that's a Virtual Private Network. While a number of critics would point at a VPN user as a person with elicit secret activities to hide, the truth is that bad guys are getting better and better at finding innocent bystanders at home and invading their privacy. For the cost of a cup of coffee, it's possible to have another layer of protection.
And yes, if I want to watch a US-only video on YouTube, it's nice to be able to do that. I have to remember to switch it off when looking at SportsNet and TSN videos here because if I don't, I get that same off-putting notice about the video not being available in 'your' country.
I did the due diligence and found PIA was a mid-level performer at the lower end of the pricing tiers. The decider in my matrix was the fact that the service supported up to 10 devices. Given that I have six eligible devices within my sight at this moment, having 10 covered seemed like a good idea. So, in the middle of the year, I bought a year's subscription to the service. It cost a few coffees, but that's not the point. I paid for a year for ALL of my devices, not the least being the main machine, which was running Win 7 then as it does now.
There was some growing pains. The Win 10 machine had a tumble over the Hosts file on the computer. I asked for some help from PIA to help get by that problem. The response was the usual boilerplate pablum. I eventually resolved the issue by wiping the machine and restoring a two-week old machine image backup. This time I found what program was diddling with Hosts as I re-installed and upgraded programs. All of that without PIA's help. Was it their responsibility to solve the problem?? No. But help, hell yeah!!
Then, in September, PIA decided unilaterally with no notice to me that it would no longer support Win 7, which was within their rights, given the weasel words in the fine print. These Licence Agreements don't hold up all that well when challenged by well-heeled victims of bad software or bad management of good software. The managers at PIA decided to pull the plug on Windows 7 support, hiding behind the sunsetting of the OS by Microsoft.
But here's the gigantic hole in their fig leaf defence. I bought this product FIVE months after end of life and I used it for more than three months WITH PIA's continued support of the non-supported operating system. Then PIA decided manpower in a pandemic dictated that they throw the Win7 Users overboard. But they did something still worse than selling me a product they wouldn't support after I'd used the product for more than a month. They cancelled the support WITH NO NOTICE to me and the others in my situation. And the service worked intermittently for weeks after. All it took was cycling through servers all over the world, to occasionally get a connection. That was until this month when no amount of fiddling made things worked.
That's when I went to the website and found the now two-month old notice. I contacted support. All I wanted was the half-year I wasn't going to be using the service (I certainly couldn't trust a devious organization, moving forward). The support person politely pointed out the refund policy was specific about when it expired and that she'd be happy to put a stop on my automatic renewal. You can imagine the words that crossed my mind, especially after the legal eagles pointed out that I'd win the case (worth 20 bucks) here in town, but travelling elsewhere might result in a loss (lawyer's fees to be included) and the travel costs. And in a different jurisdiction, their crappy, one-sided licence could be upheld. Even though they no longer offered the service they sold me!
So, the best I could do is to cost PIA future sales. I hope readers, however few they might be here, will share and, of course, avoid PIA like the plague (a joke that is immediately stale, but true nonetheless). I'm telling all my friends and family. Somebody, somewhere, will believe me and will shop for a VPN elsewhere. And I whole-heartedly recommend VPNs. I know some of you are either current or will be future users of NordVPN.. Not the worst choice, but I urge you to do your due diligence.. Heck, you might even be a non-Windows 7 user and think the dreadful support from PIA is worth the price savings. YMMV.
To me, PIA represents the worst of the pandemic responses. They can't support the work for a key section of their customer base and just cast the workers AND the customers adrift, without returning money taken WHILE IN THE PANDEMIC, thus without the ability to claim they didn't know. The company made no effort to contact me that they were doing that. And when contacted, they didn't respond with a decent effort to split amicably. They said your money is ours and we'll do the right thing and not automatically try to take your money again NEXT year.
Not good enough. Not close. Not part of my life moving forward.
And not a single creative slur in the whole rant. Mom, I AM mellowing.
Be safe, Even you PIA folks.
