Microsoft ended the Extended Security Updates program in January, bidding farewell to Windows 7 and 8/8.1. While major browsers like Edge and Chrome also chose to end support for these operating systems, Mozilla made a different decision by offering extended support for Firefox. However, Mozilla has announced the end of Firefox support for Windows 7 and 8/8.1.

Mozilla reveals end of support date for Firefox on Windows 7 and 8/8.1

Another application has ended its support for the two aging operating systems, Windows 7 and 8/8.1, which continue to maintain their popularity. According to the latest announcement from Mozilla Support, Firefox version 115 will be usable on these older operating systems until September 2024.

Initially, Mozilla intended to support older operating systems as well. However, it acknowledged that maintaining Firefox for older systems became costly and jeopardized user security without official support from Microsoft. After 2024, updates will only be provided for Windows 10 and 11.

Despite Windows 7 and 8/8.1 holding a market share of around 5%, Mozilla stated that a “significant number of users” continue to access the internet using Firefox on these operating systems. Therefore, the older versions will remain functional for a few more months.

While official support will end in September, it is important to note that you can still use Firefox after this date. However, it is crucial to understand that security updates and new features will not be available for these versions.

It is worth mentioning that Windows 8 support was officially discontinued in 2016. Windows 8.1, introduced in 2013, became another shelved operating system as it reached its eighth year.