Firefox 115 ESR is keeping Windows 7 support alive a little longer

[Alfonso Maruccia]

WTF?! Windows 7 is now 16 years old, and very few people are still using the OS on internet-exposed PCs. However, Mozilla is willing to give these Aero-obsessed enthusiasts a few additional weeks to make up their minds – and maybe get a brand-new PC.

Mozilla recently updated its official Firefox support article for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1, giving users of these ancient operating systems six more months of safe, modern browsing. The change was neither broadcast by the company nor widely reported online, and it will likely affect a very tiny minority of the whole Firefox userbase on Windows PCs.

In February 2026, Mozilla said that it was finally ending support for Windows 7 by the end of the month. Now, the updated article states that Firefox 115 ESR will continue to have access to security updates at least until August 2026. The company is doing this in order to ensure Firefox users can browse the modern web on ancient Windows releases, and is even ready to "re-evaluate" any additional support extension in the future.

The Firefox ESR channel includes long-supported releases of the open-source browser, providing organizations with a stable web platform while ensuring critical security and reliability bug fixes. The original version of Firefox 115 ESR was released on July 4, 2023, while the latest update (115.33.0esr) is just 16 days old. A newer Extended Support Release (140 ESR) was finally introduced on June 24, 2025.

Despite adding a few more months to official Firefox support, Mozilla is once again reminding everyone that Microsoft ended support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 in January 2023. Unsupported operating systems mean that users have no access to critical security fixes and modern features. If a PC cannot run Windows 10 or newer systems, Mozilla is simply asking Firefox aficionados to jump the gun and switch to a Linux-based operating system.

At this point, Mozilla Firefox is the only modern browser still capable of running on Windows 7 and the much-maligned Windows 8.x platform. Chrome, Edge, and other Chromium-based browsers don't support the Windows NT 6.1/6.2 OS releases anymore.

While Mozilla's attempt to cater to even a tiny minority of the Firefox userbase is laudable, we don't see how further extending support for Windows 7 will actually help. According to Statcounter's data from February 2026, the operating system is now employed by 0.62% of all Windows users. We say, let the old man finally die once and for all.

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Firefox 115 ESR is keeping Windows 7 support alive a little longer

 

[GeoffreyA]

Recently, I had to revisit 7 on someone's computer. I installed this very version of Firefox. The Simplix Pack brought the OS up to December 2025. Using 7 showed that we've gained little and lost a lot: it was streamlined, polished, and beautiful.

With the x64 ISO I downloaded during the process, I wanted to give 7 a go on my computer. I managed to get to the setup screen, but, drivers missing, couldn't proceed. Indeed, I am going to try 7 in a VM today.

 

[RudyBob]

I use 7 on my laptop. It's groovy man

 

[mountains]

I don't really use W7 any more. Mostly using W10 LTSC instead (love it, too). But I still have a multiboot version of W7 (along w/ Linux Mint), and kept using W7 much longer than most. Yeah, it was cool. It is also cool that Firefox is (sort of) still supporting it.

 

[Win7user]

"Windows 7 is now 16 years old, and very few people are still using the OS on internet-exposed PCs" <--------------- Actually, there are still millions of people using Windows 7. And, NO I will not give up my 14 yrs old Acer laptop with Windows 7 Pro installed on it. I do have, Linux Mint installed alongside Windows though. Windows 7 still works great, albeit slower. I also have an HP (4yrs old) desktop with Windows 11 25H2 installed.

 

[Win7user]

I, use Windows 7 Pro for more than just surfing the internet with Firefox. I, installed Linux Mint along-side Windows 7 Pro a while back. It's works beautifully. When Firefox actually stops supporting their browser on Windows 7, I'll just uninstall the Firefox browser and only use Firefox on Linux.