Google announces official end-of-support date for Chrome on Windows 7

midian182

midian182

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In a nutshell: Google appears to have run out of patience when it comes to supporting Chrome on Windows 7. For the few people who still enjoy Microsoft's venerable operating system, the world's most popular browser will lose support on February 7, 2023. Older versions of Chrome will still work, but users won't receive any more security or feature updates.

Despite Windows 7 reaching its end of extended support period for non-paying users in January 2020, some people still use the operating system—0.12% of Steam survey participants won't let go—as do organizations and businesses that are part of the Extended Security Updates (ESU) program.

According to Statcounter GlobalStats, Windows 7 is on 10% of all Windows devices worldwide, or more than 100 million systems at the last count, while Windows 8.1, which is also losing Chrome support at the same time next year, is on 2.7%.

Chrome has a massive 65% share of the browser market as Chromium-based Edge languishes at just 4.3%.

Google previously said it would keep supporting Chrome on Windows 7 until July 2001. It later extended that deadline by at least six months before announcing in November that support would end on January 15, 2023. Now, it seems Google has set the final date in stone (possibly): February 7, 2023, the same day the stable release of Chrome 110 arrives.

Google notes in its support message that the date is significant as it matches Microsoft's end of support for Windows 7 ESU and Windows 8.1 extended support on January 10, 2023. Those users can always opt for third-party security updates like those offered by 0patch if they want to stay on the OS securely.

Google is encouraging Windows 7/8.1 users to switch to Windows 10 or 11 before Chrome's official end-of-support date arrives if they want to keep using the browser safely and receive all the latest features and bug fixes in each release.

Despite launching in 2009, many people still consider Windows 7 to be their favorite version of the operating system (Windows 8/8.1 is often the least favorite). And while plenty of people still use Windows 7, the end of Chrome support will mark another milestone in its slow demise.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/96433-google-announces-official-end-support-date-chrome-windows.html

 
Not much of a reason to be on Windows 7 anymore, Windows 10 did work really well, and 11 is eschewing the tradition of 'every other release sucks'.
 
Theinsanegamer said:
10 is still full of spyware, forced reboots, and forcibly reset settings. Bleh.
Click to expand...
<!-- warning: rant
That's why btw I'm using a special gutted and tweaked variant of win10. Only a single certain game and a Made in China (MSI) app can't run. But I don't really need that garbage anyway. And I have Comodo firewall blocking everything. 90% less spying, no forced reboots, no settings loss. I'll be fine until Microsoft releases win12.

One thing that custom OS builders can't fix is Microsoft intentionally making settings hard to find. It used to be so easy in winXP and earlier, but now idk wtf am I supposed to open; billions of gates in between, scrambled hard to notice links. And MS has deleted certain settings from the OS, even from registry, forcing me to use 3rd party alternatives.
Soon, maybe in win12, everybody will have to start using the "God Mode" feature to access settings. MS designed that for themselves for ease of access, and utter chaos specifically for end users. Maybe there will be a need for a Classic Control Panel by a 3rd party too...

I wonder how bad it is on mainstream Linux distros?
<!-- rant end
 
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Windows 7 is the latest OS from Microsoft for professionals (with some annoying nuances, which will be written below). All subsequent OS releases, including "Pro"/"Education" "Enterprise/LTSC" - essentially for housewives due to the inability to flexibly customize the UI and the monstrous "minimize", "maximize" and "close" buttons in the upper right corner of each window (I don't know who came up with such a dope in the M$ development department, but these "designers" should have been fired long ago). The W8+ simply lacks the classic theme from W2K/XP, which was in the W7 with compact buttons, so much more windows for professionals fit on one screen without tricks. People, professinal, suffer so much that some system dlls are patched under W8+. Isn't it insanity to disable the classic compact theme even in Pro+ editions by M$?

Well, let me remind you that only XP had and has a minimum OS latency (less than 100 µs), which does not suit musicians and fans of hi-res sound in W7+ at all. In addition, it is clearly visible that if you install the same video drivers (according to the version) in XP and W7, then the movie does not run as smoothly on the same screen as in XP in overlay mode (in others it is even worse). In W8-10, this was corrected, but the sound stability is still disgusting, and the latency has become even worse, most often 500µs+...

For example, in XP (with the swap file disabled, which is really impossible starting with Vista), you can load all the cores quite decently (by 70-80%), open 3-4 browsers with heavy content and there will be no stutters and microfreezes in foobar2k the sound being played. On the same hardware under W7, there are already problems with a much lower load, monstrous chrome is especially problematic. And on W10 there are even more problems. Which has been proven 100500 times in professional reviews (on the same notebookcheck, where system latency has long been measured in every laptop review).

As a result, W7 leaves a double feeling - in terms of the quality of sound and video playback, there are obvious questions for it compared to the reference, on this issue, XP, but thanks to the presence of the classic W2K theme with compact buttons, it is much more suitable for professional software with tightly packed windows. And in memory, it takes only 600MB in x64. Unlike W10, which gnaws off 1.2-1.5GB at a minimum. About W11 with its resources, glitches with AMD processors and just multiple glitches (because it is actually still in the alpha version, but it is cynically sold by M$ as a "final" version - we all remember how M$ bosses once lied to us about 10 years of support for LTSC versions and that W10 is the "last" OS from them and only its updates continue ...). W11 even has a taskbar to set up like in the W10 is impossible, it is rigidly nailed from the bottom and packs badly. Pure household system...

It feels like after W7, M$ completely scored on the professionals and ignores their needs. Apparently M$ secretly suggested that all the professional need escape to Linux. But this is still that red-eyed nightmare, so everything is still 2% of the market, like 20 years ago with a minimum set of professional software..

And I am also amazed by the newfangled trend of changing the site code, so monstrous that even a year ago FF94 no longer works properly on some sites! This is nonsense, before there was no such speed of change. Despite the fact that the possibilities of even FF 2019 are over the roof to cover all the needs of web developers for base features on sites. It's just that they're getting lazier (or they're being paid too little for the right level of knowledge and concentration - which is more like the truth).

Despite the fact that even chrome version 83 works much better than FF94 on the same sites, which indicates the frank laziness of developers to ensure site compatibility with FireFox.

It is also clearly visible that sites are more and more stupidly focusing on smartphones and more and more forgetting about the base and space on laptop screens and PC monitors. But this is understandable - where the main monetized contingent is, there is money ...
 
Last edited:
Rq3EWAq said:
Who uses spying Google Chrome anyway?
Click to expand...
I use for example because auto-translate from other languages in Google Translator is integrated right into Chrome. For example, try to translate the same CNN with a plugin or built-in translation support for a person who does not know English - only chrome translates the root page normally, FF refuses with the default settings. Who will understand.

The main problem of Chrome is that there are always muddy fonts in 100% of cases (incorrect, buggy black and white anti-aliasing, different from the sharp scheme from XP). From version 50. This is DW(Direct Write) bug. In FF, starting from version 69, fonts also became fuzzy if you use anti-aliasing like in Chrome. But there, unlike chrome, there is a key in the FF registry that disables anti-aliasing completely and the text becomes crystal sharp on monitors and laptop screens with ppi below about 220. And this is almost everything that has a resolution of 1920 (1920) x1080 (1200). On smartphones, there is no such turbidity in chrome and other browsers with non-disabled buggy anti-aliasing for a simple reason - ppi is usually above 300 there, I.e. the pixels are so small that the buggy shadows of the letters are simply invisible to the eye. This effect has been known for a long time and there are many professional topics in the Google chrome bug reports. But they cynically ignore this topic, continuing to spoil the eyesight of all people who sit at screens with ppi below about 220, I.e. almost every laptop and PC monitor on the planet. They know very well what they are doing, but as in other cases, they do not care about people's health, which is proved by impossible requests with direct evidence from dozens of professional developers, including me.

Most people are forced to use chrome, because. it is the most compatible browser on the planet. Especially for financial transactions in online banking clients, etc. things. Those. it has to be kept on the computer forcibly. Well, on smartphones with Android - it is and is updated initially, so the majority of the population uses the default browser. Such an almost monopoly position of Google and Chrome is, of course, very bad for civilization, but now it is already difficult to fix it globally. The weight of Google in the market is too great.
 
Always fuzzy fonts in all versions Chrome for PC (since v50+) (fonts look a lot fuzzy on white backgrounds and slightly better light letters on black, but not all panels are good for dark mode):
Chrome-fuzzy-fonts-CNN.png


Clear fonts in last versions FF with disabled anti-aliasing for fonts (images scale disabled too - it view always in original size):
FireFox.png


This is FF52-68 with right greyscale anti-aliasing for font what is ruined in FF69+ and Chrome v50+:
FF52-68-with-is-ok-AA.png


See all screenshots in full size (it's a must to understand the difference)


This is FF52 from XP with reference grayscale smoothing:
( https://I.ibb.co/jwFQJCW/FF52-with-reference-grayscale-smoothing.png )
FF52-with-reference-grayscale-smoothing.png


NOT saw this screenshot in chrome if scale not equal 100% - it destroyed original screenshot size.
 
Last edited:
kimo1 said:
<!-- warning: rant
That's why btw I'm using a special gutted and tweaked variant of win10. Only a single certain game and a Made in China (MSI) app can't run. But I don't really need that garbage anyway. And I have Comodo firewall blocking everything. 90% less spying, no forced reboots, no settings loss. I'll be fine until Microsoft releases win12.
Click to expand...
You used a de-bloater of some kind?
 
Zoomed text from Chrome (pay attention to the side shadows on the vertical elements of the letters, which should not be with the reference greyscale anti-aliasing, as they are obviously superfluous!):
Bad-greyscale-in-Chrome-from-v50.png

Now reference greyscale anti-aliasing in FF52-68, as it was originally in XP in system fonts:
Reference-greyscale-AA-in-FF52-68.png

And last versions FF without anti-aliasing by config:
No-AA-in-FF-clean-fonts.png


 
Just another reason to dump Chrome. Keep this up Google and you won't have to worry about "updating" work; it won't be necessary. Of course it could be a move on Google's part to promote ChromeOS since the actual work necessary to "support" Chrome on Window7 is very minor. Now if we could get those on Windows7 to move to Chromebooks? A low powered OS (Windows7) compared to an under-powered OS (ChromeOS) - surely no one is that dumb. Better to go Windows7 to UbuntuLTS and use Firefox.
 
Clearly the author (Rob Thubron is a newby. Here is a statement from history; which does repeat itself again and again.
"Microsoft Internet Explorer ended 2004 with 90.31% browser usage market share, and steadily lost ground, ending 2005 with 85.05% market share. While any company would typically be thrilled with 85% of a market segment, let’s not forget that Netscape once owned a huge percentage of this same segment before IE showed up. The lesson Microsoft taught Netscape was that you can’t sit on top of a strategic hill, and hope that your competition finds it too steep to climb without a strong defense. The lesson was taught, and then apparently forgotten by the teacher. Microsoft promises IE’s first major upgrade in years in 2006, but has also announced that it is abandoning the Mac version of IE."
 
zulu53 said:
etter to go Windows7 to UbuntuLTS and use Firefox.
Click to expand...
I don’t think that the transition from W7 to Ubuntu is a good idea for a person with long experience under Windows. I am far from an ordinary layman, but even my personal attempt quickly ended with a return. If Linux, at least in some version, was acceptable for user experience for those who used Windows and for the presence of many professional software and normal (full) work of proprietary hardware, no one has long recalled Windows. But as statistics show, Windows still uses the majority of the population and business (not counting a narrow layer of scientists/engineers and just enthusiasts and server industry). The risks and conditions are such that no one agrees to mess with the free code written in essence on the knee. I have passed it many times. So no, this is definitely not an option. Especially for business and individual professional, and even more so housewives. So far, all harware will not at the same time with Windows receive stable and full feature drivers and while the Linux developers community itself will not form from constant boring and indifference (remember that for the majority it is a hobby or a good starting resume when looking for a new job) starting to work together collectively - and who will force them to force them free (where no one owes nothing to anyone except perhaps a reputation in some narrow party) write and maintain quality code? So Torvalds himself recently lost his temper, forgetting that he was already a billionaire, and the rest of the participants in his problems generally spit, they solve their narrow indirectly mercantile tasks or this is a pure hobby. Today I have a desire to write and understand code, but no tomorrow. Sorry Linus...

The more complicated the project is the stronger the problem, in the absence of coherent, effective interaction. And where does it come from in the Linux community? There everyone pulls the strap, figuratively speaking, like swan, cancer and pike.
 
I use chrome on a smartphone, because fuzzy fonts are invisible there thanks to ppi above 400. And the rest - why produce extra entities on a smartphone if you already have a browser from Google and you still have to install Google services (otherwise some software won't work at all)
On a PC, I will never read text in chrome if the screen has a ppi less than at least 220-230. Even today, fashionable laptop panels 16" with 2560x1600 do not fall far short of this level, but in general it is better to have from 300+, which is provided only by 4k panels at 15.6". And how many people sitting at laptops have them before their eyes? 1% of the population? Well, they may well use chrome with a fuzzy text, thanks to the invisibility of this problem at a very high ppi, just like on smartphones. For owners of fhd and 2.5k screens, including 4k screens on diagonals over 20", I strongly recommend using FireFox (or something similar), where you can turn off the bugged greyscale anti-aliasing like in chrome or where the problem is clearly solved and it is correct as XP and in FireFox up to version 69 (but only with the settings in the config, by default everything is also fuzzy there).

And by the way, it is thanks to 8k resolution that the problem of fuzzy fonts on monitors and laptop screens will finally be solved in a radical way. It's just that at 8k ppi, even on a 32 "screen, it will become more than 300. And the topic can be closed, even with incorrect greyscale anti-aliasing.
 
NikoBB said:
I use for example because auto-translate from other languages in Google Translator is integrated right into Chrome. For example, try to translate the same CNN with a plugin or built-in translation support for a person who does not know English - only chrome translates the root page normally, FF refuses with the default settings. Who will understand.

The main problem of Chrome is that there are always muddy fonts in 100% of cases (incorrect, buggy black and white anti-aliasing, different from the sharp scheme from XP). From version 50. This is DW(Direct Write) bug. In FF, starting from version 69, fonts also became fuzzy if you use anti-aliasing like in Chrome. But there, unlike chrome, there is a key in the FF registry that disables anti-aliasing completely and the text becomes crystal sharp on monitors and laptop screens with ppi below about 220. And this is almost everything that has a resolution of 1920 (1920) x1080 (1200). On smartphones, there is no such turbidity in chrome and other browsers with non-disabled buggy anti-aliasing for a simple reason - ppi is usually above 300 there, I.e. the pixels are so small that the buggy shadows of the letters are simply invisible to the eye. This effect has been known for a long time and there are many professional topics in the Google chrome bug reports. But they cynically ignore this topic, continuing to spoil the eyesight of all people who sit at screens with ppi below about 220, I.e. almost every laptop and PC monitor on the planet. They know very well what they are doing, but as in other cases, they do not care about people's health, which is proved by impossible requests with direct evidence from dozens of professional developers, including me.

Most people are forced to use chrome, because. it is the most compatible browser on the planet. Especially for financial transactions in online banking clients, etc. things. Those. it has to be kept on the computer forcibly. Well, on smartphones with Android - it is and is updated initially, so the majority of the population uses the default browser. Such an almost monopoly position of Google and Chrome is, of course, very bad for civilization, but now it is already difficult to fix it globally. The weight of Google in the market is too great.
Click to expand...
As I noted in other comments. Your last paragraph (about how secure Chrome is in market share); this was said about all of the previous "dominant" browsers of the time - perhaps most notably MS Explorer; which as a point in time had 95% of the browser market. FYI; MS Explorer no longer exists. History shows that it not easy to defend market share for ANY particular software, let alone something as easy to produce as browser software that follows open source or ISO standards rather than propriety standards. As more and more privacy/security pressure is put on website designers (particlarly financial institution or government departments) they will need to move away from Chrome client as the standard design criteria for their websites. If their websites work with Firefox then they can be deployed - if not then they cannot.
 
By the way, IE6 was the best browser in terms of UI customization flexibility available to the user directly. Since then, things have gotten worse in all browsers without exception. Although manual settings and allow you to fix something ...
 
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