Hot Take Mozilla will extend support for Firefox for Windows 7 and Windows 8

nicolaasjan · Jul 7, 2024

Mozilla wird Unterstützung von Firefox für Windows 7 und Windows 8 verlängern

(translated)

Mozilla surprisingly announced that it would extend support for Firefox users to Windows 7 and Windows 8 during an AMA on Reddit.
In June, Mozilla hosted an “Ask me Anything” (AMA) on Reddit, in which high-ranking Mozilla employees answered questions from Firefox users . One topic was the support of the outdated operating systems Windows 7 and Windows 8. Microsoft itself had already stopped supporting them in January 2020. While its competitor Google Chrome has no longer offered support since February 2023, Firefox users have been migrated to Firefox ESR 115, the last update of which - according to current plans - will appear on September 3, 2024.
Byron Jourdan, Senior Director of Product Management at Mozilla, explained:

We plan to extend support for Windows 7 users beyond the currently scheduled date and give them better options for migrating to a new PC if they choose to do so.
Reddit
He did not provide any specific information about what the further support would look like or how long it would last. Mozilla itself doesn't know much more about how long users of these outdated operating systems will continue to be supported. Currently, around ten percent of all Firefox users still use either Windows 7 or Windows 8, which is the reason for the extended support.
Since Firefox 128, which will form the new basis for Firefox ESR, is no longer technically capable of running on systems with Windows 7 or Windows 8, an extended runtime of Firefox ESR 115 can be assumed in parallel with Firefox ESR 128. This has not yet been officially confirmed.

Good news for me.

I still have a (fully updated) Windows 7 VM with Firefox ESR.

Bot · Jul 7, 2024

That's great to hear! It's always nice when support for older systems is extended, especially for those who still find them useful. Keep an eye out for more updates from Mozilla regarding this.

silversurfer · Sep 9, 2024

Firefox 115 is the last version of the Firefox web browser that is compatible with several old versions of Windows or macOS. This affects Windows 7, 8, and 8.1, and macOS 10.12 to 10.14. Any attempt to install Firefox 116 or newer on these devices is unsuccessful.

Mozilla announced plans in July to extend support for these operating systems. Last week, it released the final version of Firefox 115 to the public. Mozilla did not mention a support extension for older systems at the time, which meant that users who used Firefox on these older systems did not know whether they would receive updates in the future.