6 ms·

Chrome: Sunsetting support for Windows 7 / 8.1 in early 2023

43 points by Uncle_Sam 4y ago

tyingq 4y ago
Might be interesting for China. Pretty sure Windows 7 is still the dominant OS there. Or is Chrome not heavily used there?
- Synaesthesia 4y ago
  Apparently Windows 10 is the most popular version of Windows there now, and Chrome is also the most popular browser. https://gs.statcounter.com/os-version-market-share/windows/desktop/china https://gs.statcounter.com/os-version-market-share/windows/d...
apankrat 4y ago
For what it's worth, we are making a system utility for Windows and our user base in the desktop segment is: Windows 11 18% Windows 10 71% Windows 8.x / 7 11% That is, the percentage of 8/7 is still very much non-trivial. Though our user base is probably skewed towards techy people.
- jeroenhd 4y ago
  FWIW, I'd think people buying and using system utilities are more often than not users that run old machines for business reasons. More the "XP machine in the basement to control the boiler" situation rather than "I don't want the free update to Windows 10" situation. Another thing to keep in mind is that Windows 8.1 is still supported by Microsoft for another three months. Windows 8.1 is not outdated yet, not even according to Microsoft. Chrome's support will end a month after Microsoft's support ends, I'd think because very few people actually use 8.1 compared to the rest of the world. In case your customers ask, Windows 7/8.1 users may be able to use Firefox (ESR, if necessary) if they want a maintained browser. The current Firefox ESR should be supported until at least August of next year and if Mozilla includes 7/8.1 support in version 115, then support should last until at least the end of next year.
  - Ocean7585 4y ago
    > Windows 7/8.1 users may be able to use Firefox and Pale moon, SeaMonkey, K-Meleon etc and judging by the Win XP situation a plethora of other (Chinese or not) Chromium based browsers as well. https://msfn.org/board/topic/182794-updated-browser-list-for-windows-xp/ https://msfn.org/board/topic/182794-updated-browser-list-for...
  - ridgered4 4y ago
    Support is a lot more of a nebulous concept than it used to be. I recall AMD stopped releasing new drivers for Windows 8 at least a couple years ago, even though it is still supported by Microsoft. At the same time they were still releasing Windows 7 drivers even though MS stopped support in 2020.
- Beltalowda 4y ago
  Electron (accidentally) broke Windows 7 support last month, and as a result a number of applications broke for Windows 7 if they used that Electron version (e.g. VSCode). Lots of people complained. It was a fairly minor thing and was quickly fixed by the Electron people. My favourite comment in one of the threads about it: "Related "MS ended support for Win7" - sorry, how it corresponds to development?! Does your operating system gone away from SSD? Or Windows become rusty? Not. SYSTEM WORKS AS BEFORE, so please don't write stupid reasons "MS doesn't support" - nobody care of it, system works as usual and nothing prevents you from using Win7 (as I do now)." I kind of like the no-nonsense honesty of it; made me smile :-) I don't think it's necessarily smart to keep running on Windows 7 given the support status, but they're not entirely wrong either: Windows 7 is a fine system. It works. Why "upgrade"?
  - apankrat 4y ago
    > Windows 7 is a fine system. It works. Why "upgrade"? Im da sheng, beratna.
  - gtirloni 4y ago
    Software is a living thing, it's not a chair. Sure, keep using it. Just don't complain when one of a million external variables your software depends on suddenly stops working and nobody cares.
    - thfuran 4y ago
      Don't keep using it after Microsoft stops updating. At least not unless it's airgapped.
  - counttheforks 4y ago
    > "Related "MS ended support for Win7" - sorry, how it corresponds to development?! Does your operating system gone away from SSD? Or Windows become rusty? Not. SYSTEM WORKS AS BEFORE, so please don't write stupid reasons "MS doesn't support" - nobody care of it, system works as usual and nothing prevents you from using Win7 (as I do now)." This is just nonsense. If the user feels so strongly, why don't they maintain the relevant software themselves and find out just how easy (not) it is to maintain support for an EOL operating system? Or why don't they just stick to outdated versions of all their software, like they chose to do with their operating system? Harassing open source developers who work for free is not a sane response.
- herf 4y ago
  f.lux is also at 11% on Windows 7/8.
  - nyanpasu64 4y ago
    As a Windows 7 fan, one confounding factor is that Windows 10 eventually added their own Night Light which replaces basic uses of Flux.
bakugo 4y ago
8.1 was the last decent version of Windows.
- BLKNSLVR 4y ago
  The introduction of the hybrid interface in Windows 8 was the beginning of the end. The new 'Setup' versus the old Control Panel and how there's some crossover, but not complete. God, they messed things up. Yeah, I think 7 was the last good version. 8.1 was "sorry for 8.0" but the damage was done and the path forward (wonkily sideways and backwards) was set.
  - gtirloni 4y ago
    > The introduction of the hybrid interface in Windows 8 was the beginning of the end What's this end your are taking about? People day that about every new version of Windows at least since the 95 release and it doesn't seem to be happening.
    - somebehemoth 4y ago
      I took this comment to mean that "for this person" it was the beginning of the end. I feel the same way. Windows 8 and onward got really weird really fast for a lot of people who used Windows for decades. I'm not saying the old style is better for everyone, just me.
      - BLKNSLVR 4y ago
        I actually meant it globally, but if I was a better person I would have meant it "for me, personally" ;) > I'm not saying the old style is better for everyone, just me I'm on the same page. But also, I wouldn't necessarily have a problem with getting used to the new interface, except it doesn't show all the things the old interface had, some of which I use(d) frequently enough to be annoyed about their absence, meaning that I'd have to go back to the old interface, in turn meaning that I can't yet forget the old to make brain-space for the new. I find this infuriating, possibly because it highlights my brain's personal tech-debt; some kind of "curse of knowing".
ramshanker 4y ago
There goes my daily work driver. Surprisingly, it still works awesome with all lots of civil engineering softwares. 16GB DDR3 with an i7 4th Gen. There is no reason to discard it yet. Historically as soon as Microsoft dropped Win7, many of these software followed suit. This is the reason we had to abandon God number of PCs. This time out will be my PC as well than.
- 323 4y ago
  But why discard the PC? It can run Windows 10 perfectly well.
  - lioeters 4y ago
    Linux gives new life to old PCs and laptops. I've had great success with Lubuntu and Pop OS.
    - albrewer 4y ago
      In my experience, engineering tools tend to not run well (or at all) on Linux, even with WINE. I don't mean SolidWorks and AutoCAD - programs like Compress, Caesar II, CFTurbo, MAGMA (not the CAS), Carrier HAP; in short, all those engineering tools you never hear the name of before you start working in the relevant industry.
  - ocdtrekkie 4y ago
    I still game on a 4th gen i7 with 16GB of RAM. Windows 10, obviously, and I've upgraded the graphics card, but those are very solid machines.
- xd1936 4y ago
  I hope you weren't doing any work where you were authenticating anywhere. The reason to discard it (the software) would be years of unpatched security vulnerabilities. Upgrade to Windows 10 or Linux!
timw4mail 4y ago
It's always Chrome first
- nyanpasu64 4y ago
  In my experience, it's Qt 6 and Qt Creator dropping support for Windows 7 first (along with Python and Blender).
frankjr 4y ago
Off topic: Why does every company use the word "sunsetting" these days instead of "ending", "shutting down" etc.? I cringe every time I read it.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- pvg 4y ago
  Please don't pick the most provocative thing in an article or post to complain about in the thread. Find something interesting to respond to instead. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- chrismorgan 4y ago
  And “deprecating” when they’re actually removing. (In general, “deprecating” is what’s being done no later than when they announce the pending removal. Deprecation means that it still works for now, but is not recommended and may go away in the future.)
- antisthenes 4y ago
  Corporate PR drones probably think it sound better than the words you used. Another dark pattern really.
shaggie76 4y ago
Yesterday slightly less 2% of Warframe players were still on Windows 7. That's not too far from https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey which is gives a 2.52% average for all Steam games.

43 points by Uncle_Sam 4y ago

Might be interesting for China. Pretty sure Windows 7 is still the dominant OS there. Or is Chrome not heavily used there?

Synaesthesia 4y ago
Apparently Windows 10 is the most popular version of Windows there now, and Chrome is also the most popular browser. https://gs.statcounter.com/os-version-market-share/windows/desktop/china https://gs.statcounter.com/os-version-market-share/windows/d...

apankrat 4y ago

For what it's worth, we are making a system utility for Windows and our user base in the desktop segment is: Windows 11 18% Windows 10 71% Windows 8.x / 7 11% That is, the percentage of 8/7 is still very much non-trivial. Though our user base is probably skewed towards techy people.

jeroenhd 4y ago
FWIW, I'd think people buying and using system utilities are more often than not users that run old machines for business reasons. More the "XP machine in the basement to control the boiler" situation rather than "I don't want the free update to Windows 10" situation. Another thing to keep in mind is that Windows 8.1 is still supported by Microsoft for another three months. Windows 8.1 is not outdated yet, not even according to Microsoft. Chrome's support will end a month after Microsoft's support ends, I'd think because very few people actually use 8.1 compared to the rest of the world. In case your customers ask, Windows 7/8.1 users may be able to use Firefox (ESR, if necessary) if they want a maintained browser. The current Firefox ESR should be supported until at least August of next year and if Mozilla includes 7/8.1 support in version 115, then support should last until at least the end of next year.
- Ocean7585 4y ago
  > Windows 7/8.1 users may be able to use Firefox and Pale moon, SeaMonkey, K-Meleon etc and judging by the Win XP situation a plethora of other (Chinese or not) Chromium based browsers as well. https://msfn.org/board/topic/182794-updated-browser-list-for-windows-xp/ https://msfn.org/board/topic/182794-updated-browser-list-for...
- ridgered4 4y ago
  Support is a lot more of a nebulous concept than it used to be. I recall AMD stopped releasing new drivers for Windows 8 at least a couple years ago, even though it is still supported by Microsoft. At the same time they were still releasing Windows 7 drivers even though MS stopped support in 2020.
Beltalowda 4y ago
Electron (accidentally) broke Windows 7 support last month, and as a result a number of applications broke for Windows 7 if they used that Electron version (e.g. VSCode). Lots of people complained. It was a fairly minor thing and was quickly fixed by the Electron people. My favourite comment in one of the threads about it: "Related "MS ended support for Win7" - sorry, how it corresponds to development?! Does your operating system gone away from SSD? Or Windows become rusty? Not. SYSTEM WORKS AS BEFORE, so please don't write stupid reasons "MS doesn't support" - nobody care of it, system works as usual and nothing prevents you from using Win7 (as I do now)." I kind of like the no-nonsense honesty of it; made me smile :-) I don't think it's necessarily smart to keep running on Windows 7 given the support status, but they're not entirely wrong either: Windows 7 is a fine system. It works. Why "upgrade"?
- apankrat 4y ago
  > Windows 7 is a fine system. It works. Why "upgrade"? Im da sheng, beratna.
- gtirloni 4y ago
  Software is a living thing, it's not a chair. Sure, keep using it. Just don't complain when one of a million external variables your software depends on suddenly stops working and nobody cares.
  - thfuran 4y ago
    Don't keep using it after Microsoft stops updating. At least not unless it's airgapped.
- counttheforks 4y ago
  > "Related "MS ended support for Win7" - sorry, how it corresponds to development?! Does your operating system gone away from SSD? Or Windows become rusty? Not. SYSTEM WORKS AS BEFORE, so please don't write stupid reasons "MS doesn't support" - nobody care of it, system works as usual and nothing prevents you from using Win7 (as I do now)." This is just nonsense. If the user feels so strongly, why don't they maintain the relevant software themselves and find out just how easy (not) it is to maintain support for an EOL operating system? Or why don't they just stick to outdated versions of all their software, like they chose to do with their operating system? Harassing open source developers who work for free is not a sane response.
herf 4y ago
f.lux is also at 11% on Windows 7/8.
- nyanpasu64 4y ago
  As a Windows 7 fan, one confounding factor is that Windows 10 eventually added their own Night Light which replaces basic uses of Flux.

bakugo 4y ago

8.1 was the last decent version of Windows.

BLKNSLVR 4y ago
The introduction of the hybrid interface in Windows 8 was the beginning of the end. The new 'Setup' versus the old Control Panel and how there's some crossover, but not complete. God, they messed things up. Yeah, I think 7 was the last good version. 8.1 was "sorry for 8.0" but the damage was done and the path forward (wonkily sideways and backwards) was set.
- gtirloni 4y ago
  > The introduction of the hybrid interface in Windows 8 was the beginning of the end What's this end your are taking about? People day that about every new version of Windows at least since the 95 release and it doesn't seem to be happening.
  - somebehemoth 4y ago
    I took this comment to mean that "for this person" it was the beginning of the end. I feel the same way. Windows 8 and onward got really weird really fast for a lot of people who used Windows for decades. I'm not saying the old style is better for everyone, just me.
    - BLKNSLVR 4y ago
      I actually meant it globally, but if I was a better person I would have meant it "for me, personally" ;) > I'm not saying the old style is better for everyone, just me I'm on the same page. But also, I wouldn't necessarily have a problem with getting used to the new interface, except it doesn't show all the things the old interface had, some of which I use(d) frequently enough to be annoyed about their absence, meaning that I'd have to go back to the old interface, in turn meaning that I can't yet forget the old to make brain-space for the new. I find this infuriating, possibly because it highlights my brain's personal tech-debt; some kind of "curse of knowing".

ramshanker 4y ago

There goes my daily work driver. Surprisingly, it still works awesome with all lots of civil engineering softwares. 16GB DDR3 with an i7 4th Gen. There is no reason to discard it yet. Historically as soon as Microsoft dropped Win7, many of these software followed suit. This is the reason we had to abandon God number of PCs. This time out will be my PC as well than.

323 4y ago
But why discard the PC? It can run Windows 10 perfectly well.
- lioeters 4y ago
  Linux gives new life to old PCs and laptops. I've had great success with Lubuntu and Pop OS.
  - albrewer 4y ago
    In my experience, engineering tools tend to not run well (or at all) on Linux, even with WINE. I don't mean SolidWorks and AutoCAD - programs like Compress, Caesar II, CFTurbo, MAGMA (not the CAS), Carrier HAP; in short, all those engineering tools you never hear the name of before you start working in the relevant industry.
- ocdtrekkie 4y ago
  I still game on a 4th gen i7 with 16GB of RAM. Windows 10, obviously, and I've upgraded the graphics card, but those are very solid machines.
xd1936 4y ago
I hope you weren't doing any work where you were authenticating anywhere. The reason to discard it (the software) would be years of unpatched security vulnerabilities. Upgrade to Windows 10 or Linux!

timw4mail 4y ago

It's always Chrome first

nyanpasu64 4y ago
In my experience, it's Qt 6 and Qt Creator dropping support for Windows 7 first (along with Python and Blender).

frankjr 4y ago

Off topic: Why does every company use the word "sunsetting" these days instead of "ending", "shutting down" etc.? I cringe every time I read it.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
pvg 4y ago
Please don't pick the most provocative thing in an article or post to complain about in the thread. Find something interesting to respond to instead. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
chrismorgan 4y ago
And “deprecating” when they’re actually removing. (In general, “deprecating” is what’s being done no later than when they announce the pending removal. Deprecation means that it still works for now, but is not recommended and may go away in the future.)
antisthenes 4y ago
Corporate PR drones probably think it sound better than the words you used. Another dark pattern really.

shaggie76 4y ago

Yesterday slightly less 2% of Warframe players were still on Windows 7. That's not too far from https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey which is gives a 2.52% average for all Steam games.