The popular browser Firefox promises to offer support for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 until September 2024. Owner Mozilla thus already offers a more long-term support timeline than its competitors and Microsoft itself.
In any case, the shelf life of these operating systems was overdue from Microsoft back in January of this year. In the wake of that move, Edge and Chrome also decided to stop supporting these platforms on a security basis. These are critical for secure browsing because they plug any vulnerabilities.
Known exploits
The main reason for the end of support given by Mozilla itself is Microsoft’s prior decision to stop support. As a result, known exploits continue to emerge.
It is the next sign that Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 are at the end of the road. The former OS was brought to market in 2009 and, for many users, was the version that replaced the vaunted Windows XP (instead of the much-criticized 2007 Vista). Windows 8 was released in 2012 and promised to end the well-known interface with the taskbar at the bottom, a Start menu and other traditions within the ecosystem. However, 8.1 was already a year later in response to this action’s fierce criticism.
Firefox’s action is not surprising, as is its slightly longer duration of support relative to its competitors. When it said goodbye to XP and Vista, it also kept providing security updates a little bit longer than Chrome and (what was then known as) Internet Explorer.
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