Although Microsoft killed off Windows 7 and Windows 8, quite a few people stuck with the old operating systems – but Google might finally get people to upgrade, as it has announced that it will no longer upgrade. updated its Chrome web browser for these operating systems. .
This is great news, as Chrome is the most popular web browser in the world – by far, so Google’s decision will likely impact many users of the older version of Windows.
Google’s decision to stop updating Chrome has serious implications, as it means that all security vulnerabilities may not be patched, and there will be no protection against emerging threats, such as new malware.
This could put people using an outdated version of Chrome at serious risk when browsing the Internet, especially when Microsoft no longer updates Windows 7 or Windows 8 either.
Sorry Windows 7 fans, it’s time to move on
While few people will mourn the death of Windows 8, its predecessor, Windows 7, remains incredibly popular. Although Windows 7 reached its end of life (the point when Microsoft no longer supports or updates the operating system) on January 14, 2020, millions of people are still using it. According to Statcounter, 9.62% of Windows users are still using Windows 7, compared to 18.13% on Windows 11.
While I certainly have sympathy for people who want to stick with an operating system they’re familiar with, I can’t stress enough the risks of using a web browser or desktop. an outdated or unpatched operating system.
So for Windows 7 users who rely on Chrome, what should you do? You can switch to another web browser that still supports Windows 7, such as Firefox. However, Mozilla, the company behind Firefox, may soon announce that it is ending support for older versions of Windows, meaning this may just be a temporary decision. It would also leave you running an old OS that no longer receives updates, which isn’t ideal.
The best thing you can do is bite the bullet and upgrade to either Windows 10 or Windows 11. Both operating systems are reasonably solid these days, and you won’t experience massive culture shock if you switch – they’re still Windows, after all, and there are plenty of tweaks you can try to make Windows 10 and Windows 11 look and work like Windows 7.
If your laptop or PC can’t run a newer version of Windows, and you can’t afford or don’t want to buy a newer device, you might consider another operating system, such as Linux. This open-source operating system comes in different flavors (called distros or distros for short), and many of them are designed to run easily on older hardware, and Chrome is supported on most.
When moving from Windows 7 to a Linux distribution East more of a culture shock, some are very user-friendly, like Ubuntu, and others, like Linux Mint, have a very similar user interface to Windows 7, which makes it much easier to adapt.
As always, you should also make sure you’re using the best antivirus software you can afford for complete online protection.
