What you need to know
- Windows 7's time in the Extended Security Update (ESU) Program will end on January 10, 2023.
- Now, Chrome support for Windows 7 will run until (at least) January 15, 2023, closely mimicking Microsoft's support end date.
Some variants of Windows 7 are still receiving a small bit of love from Microsoft. Those editions are Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 7 Professional for Embedded Systems, which are enjoying time in the Extended Security Update (ESU) Program. However, on January 10, 2023, that's all over, and Google is now committed to matching Microsoft's timeline for offering support to the elderly operating system.
Microsoft ESU support ends for the aforementioned versions of Windows 7 on January 10, 2023. And now, Google has announced that Chrome will set its sights on a similar date for its Windows 7 support commitments. Users can enjoy Windows 7 support on Chrome "through" January 15, 2023. You can read Google's post on the subject to decipher what exactly that means, since it's not a hard doomsday declaration, but it certainly lines up peculiarly well with Microsoft's own end-of-support date for the old OS.
Some may wonder who is still using Windows 7 in 2021 or why this news even matters. To those folks, consider: As of September 2021, Windows 7 was powering nearly 10% of all Steam users' machines. And in some parts of the world, even older operating systems are king of the hill. Just look at Windows XP, which still holds a dominant market share in some pockets of the globe.
The point is, no matter how irrelevant an OS may seem in the age of Windows 11, there's almost certainly a large contingent of people still using it. This sentiment especially applies to Windows 7, which many regard as a success for Microsoft.
