If you're still on Windows 7/8.1, it's time to say goodbye to Google Chrome
- Reference: 1666708210
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/10/25/chrome_support_windows_7/
- Source link:
The end of support for Chrome on Windows 7 and 8.1 is [1]tentatively planned for February 7 along with the release of Chrome 110, bringing Google in line with Microsoft's planned [2]January 10 end date for supporting the older versions. Going forward, Google said, users really need to run a supported operating system.
"If you are currently on Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, we encourage you to move to a supported Windows version before that date to ensure you continue to receive the latest security updates and Chrome features," Google said.
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Microsoft echoed that language when it announced the end of Windows 7 and 8.1: "Remember that using unsupported software may increase an organization's exposure to security risks or impact its ability to meet compliance obligations."
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As Reg readers know, Chrome will still work on Windows 7 and 8.1 after support ends, but the browser won't get any additional updates – security patches included.
Speaking of unsupported…
Numbers vary slightly depending on who you ask, but it's generally believed that [6]around 70 percent of PCs are running Windows 10. That's good in theory, but the news around Windows 11 isn't great. It only just recently surpassed Windows 7 in PC OS market share, reaching 13.5 percent to Windows 7's 10.7 percent.
[7]Microsoft fixes printing gremlin, ends that block on Windows 11 upgrades
[8]More than 4 in 10 PCs still can't upgrade to Windows 11
[9]Microsoft warns: Windows 11 update breaks provisioning
[10]What's Microsoft been up to? A quick tour of Windows 11 22H2's security features
Windows 11's [11]adoption has been [12]glacially slow , and for good reason: around 40 percent of devices that run Windows are unable to upgrade due to the onerous, [13]yet apparently arbitrary , hardware requirements Microsoft put on the OS.
That wouldn't be a problem were Windows 10 long for this world, but it isn't. According to Microsoft, it "will continue to support at least one Windows 10 release until October 14, 2025." After that point, Win10's future is unclear, and it's only three years away.
Then again, if you are on Windows 7, let's recall that it entered the market in [14]October 2009 and formally exited in early 2020. While Windows 8 launched in 2012 and its successor, 8.1, will stop receiving support in January of 2023, Windows 10 will simply be doing the same thing, having shown up in 2015 and with plans to bow out in 2025.
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Whether the hardware of 2025 will be ready for a mass migration to Windows 11, however, [16]remains to be seen . ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://support.google.com/chrome/thread/185534985/sunsetting-support-for-windows-7-8-1-in-early-2023?hl=en
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/12/microsoft_365_windows_7_eol/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y1gIFj@90f5DlhqMRduu5gAAAFA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y1gIFj@90f5DlhqMRduu5gAAAFA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y1gIFj@90f5DlhqMRduu5gAAAFA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://gs.statcounter.com/windows-version-market-share/desktop/worldwide
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/25/microsoft_windows_22h2_printer/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/10/windows_11_adoption/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/06/windows_11_22h2/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/27/microsoft_windows_11_security_features/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/31/windows_11_stalls/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/28/adduplex_windows_11/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/09/windows_11_requirements/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2009/10/22/windows_7_launch_party/
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y1gIFj@90f5DlhqMRduu5gAAAFA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/06/windows_11_22h2/
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Au revoir but not goodbye
Yes. I do find it frustrating that people seem to take "no longer supported" to mean "will absolutely cease to function and leave you bereft of functionality".
I still have an old XP box lying around running some legacy stuff - it's been unsupported for ages, but still perfectly functional in its long-running use case.
Re: Au revoir but not goodbye
" will absolutely cease to function and leave you bereft of functionality "
How about all the websites that will go to a blank screen saying "Your browser is unsupported" with helpful links to be able to download a supported browser?
How about Google disabling basic functionality (like logging into your account) with their own browser, calling it insecure, if it's more than a handful of releases old.
There's no need for this nonsense except for a relentless push to get people onto the latest newest thing.
And in the case of Chrome on Android, this appears to be colluding with the OS to have you permanently logged in (the only way to log out is to do so with the phone's primary account) in order that the bastards can track you everywhere in detail.
So, yes, older versions of browsers will continue to work (unless there's a secret kill switch like they did with Docs on iOS?), but the ability to use the web will get progressively less optimal as time passes.
Re: relentless push
Conversely and notably, they will quote security issues for ceasing support of older browsers on older OS's. It is possible that maintaining full functionality on these older systems opens them up to legal troubles if / when some clueless person using said legacy software gets fished into poverty.
Re: Au revoir but not goodbye
That is, assuming that you want to. Firefox is still a thing,* and it doesn't leave you under the ad agency's microscope. Especially with uBlock 0 , NoScript, DDG, Privacy Badger, Decentraleyes, and ClearURLs. I admit it's not quite as snappy as Chrome, but I don't care.
*It also currently seems to be the main plausible alternative to the Chrom(e/ium) engine. Diversity in the web-browser ecosystem is undeniably a good thing. It also prevents Google from being able to define de facto web standards with impunity.
Upgrade to Linux
Windows 10 is not an upgrade. Linux is an upgrade!
Re: Upgrades
Getting rid of Chrome is an upgrade.
Getting rid of windows is an even bigger upgrade.
Wow, Just Wow!
8.1, will stop receiving support in January of 2023 MS will continue support for both users of Win8.1 ! Wow!
Free Upgrade to Windows 10
The Windows Media Creation Tool (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-installation-media-for-windows-99a58364-8c02-206f-aa6f-40c3b507420d) should allow any legal Windows 7 et al. users upgrade free of charge.
So what ?
I never used chrome. i still have some win(oldish) boxes for nostalgia games and/or hardware but i never "upgraded" anything beyond Win7. No win beyond 7 ever did anything i actually needed or wanted so why bother at all ?
So a browser i never used and dont ever intend to use can only be on its newest and shin/shitt_iest on an OS i also never used and dont ever intend to use. Both from companies i utterly dislike and distrust.
Seems like some sort of perfect match.
Re: So what ?
(Other use cases are available. Value of your opinion may go down as well as up. Terms and conditions apply.)
If anything Chrome no longer UPDATING makes me want to keep using Windows 7 since I hate Chrome.
I still use XP ;)
For the one Windows package I quite like, and also ripping DVDs since I no longer own a TV. Don't see any point to coughing up currency symbols to replace what I have that works with something fancy and modern that.... would probably object to running the older software that I use.
And before anybody mentions, it's on the LAN but the router specifically blocks access to the outside world.
Re: I still use XP ;)
Just in case you didn't know, [1]Handbrake is a thing .
[1] https://www.maketecheasier.com/install-handbrake-linux-rip-dvd/
The hardware of 2025
With a long recession about to slap us in the face PLUS way above inflation tech price increases, much of the hardware we'll be using in 2025 is what we have now and have had for several years.
Windows 11 is IMHO a dogs breakfast and will not be installed on any of the systems here. The boss wanted the new shiny, shiny and after a week, he went back to W7 in frustration.
We are now moving to M1/M2 macs. 40% of the company has already ditched windows.
Re: The hardware of 2025
What is this "inflation" you speak of? You've already paid the Cupertino idiot tax surcharge... that exceeds above and beyond any of this "inflation" you speak of.
Au revoir but not goodbye
Like with Windows XP, you'll still be able to use Chrome, just not the latest build.