You would think that nobody is found neither Firefox nor Windows 7 anymore, and yet these two tools still retain a loyal user base. Also, the Mozilla browser does not intend to leave the OS anytime soon. On its forums, the firm has indicated that support for Windows for 7 and 8 will continue at least until 2024.
On January 10, Microsoft definitively signed the death warrant for Windows 7 by stopping once and for all updates for the OS. Next on the list is Windows 8, which will soon suffer the same fate. Also, more and more developers are dropping support for both operating systems for their applications, preparing exodus of remaining users to newer versions of Windows. Recently, for example, Steam announced its upcoming departure from Windows 7 and 8, following a similar decision by Fortnite.
Among the navigators too, the departure will not be long in coming. Chrome was the first to comment on the subject, followed discreetly by its sidekick Edge. So remains, at least in the top three, Firefox, which we expected to see in turn stop support on both operating systems. However, it would seem that Mozilla has opted for the opposite strategy. On its own forum, the organization announced that Firefox will extend its support on Windows 7 and 8 at least until version 115 of his browser.
Firefox won’t be leaving Windows 7 and 8 anytime soon
Also, as pointed out by Michael Kaply, software engineer at Mozilla, this delay implies support until third quarter of 2024 at a minimum. As a reminder, Firefox is currently at version 111. The organization thus puts forward the argument of the shortage of components to justify its choice, which “made it difficult to upgrade to a new computer or a new version of Windows” over the past few years, especially given the minimum system requirements for Windows 11.
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In reality, there is also another obvious reason to push Mozilla to maintain support: its market share. Indeed, Firefox is used by more than 15% of users on Windows 7 and almost 3% on Windows 8.1. At this point, the remaining users on both OSes probably won’t be leaving anytime soon. Stopping the support of the support would therefore potentially mean losing these in favor of other alternatives.
Source: Mozilla