Firefox won’t drop Windows 7 and 8.1 users just yet

Mozilla has been considering stopping updates to the ESR branch of its browser for Windows 7 and 8.1 since November. This could happen simultaneously with the termination of support for the mentioned operating systems by Microsoft. Today it became known that the company has made a decision and shared it with browser users.

Mozilla will update Firefox ESR on Windows 7 and 8.1 until at least the third quarter of 2023. This period is due to the release of the next version of the browser. However, the company did not name the final dates for the termination of support. 

“We will not end support for Windows 7/8 until the Firefox 115 ESR update is released, so Firefox 115 ESR will support Windows 7/8 until at least the third quarter of 2024,” said Michael Capley, software engineer at Mozilla.

While the company does not stop support due to the large number of users who work with the mentioned operating systems. Of the total share of installed Firefox browsers, 15.1% run on Windows 7, 2.8% run on Windows 8.1.