Although Chrome is the most widely used web browser on the planet, Google has revealed that Chrome support for millions of Windows 7 users will stop early in 2019.

Security Updates for Windows 7 to End

Users occasionally hesitate to upgrade when a powerful new operating system is released, either out of fear that the new OS would cause software incompatibilities or because the process of re-learning their old workflows will slow them down. Since Microsoft stopped providing widespread support for Windows 7 back in 2020, Chrome has been threatening to abandon users of older versions of Windows. As a result, we have been wondering when Google will stop supporting Windows 7.

In a support page post published by Google, “The final Chrome version to support Windows 7 and 8/8.1 is version 109. The first Chrome version to require Windows 10 or later is Chrome 110, which is slated for release on February 7th, 2023. For continued access to new Chrome releases, make sure your device is running Windows 10 or later..”

Google is changing because it is in line with Microsoft’s decision to stop providing extended security updates for Windows 7 and updates for Windows 8.1 on January 10, 2023. These systems will become significantly less stable as a result of Microsoft’s withdrawal. 

Users of older systems are free to continue installing and using older versions of Chrome, but they would be missing out on the most recent, crucial security and usability improvements. Google won’t take any action to prevent this.

Users who stuck with older Windows for better performance may have been dealt a heavy blow by this news. Hanging on to Windows 7 at this point poses a serious security risk for users’ data. Windows 10 and 11 aren’t that bad though.

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