Although Windows 7 will reach End of Life (EOL) next week, Google has pledged that it will continue to support Chrome on the OS for at least 18 months.
From January 14, Microsoft will cease support for Windows 7 unless you happen to be an enterprise customer willing to pay (handsomely) for Extended Support Updates. However, plenty of users are planning to stick with it for the foreseeable future.
While this means missing out on security updates from Microsoft, Google's announcement means they will at least be able to continue using their preferred web browser.
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Microsoft is trying to encourage everyone to migrate to Windows 10, but Google acknowledges that not everyone is ready or willing to make the jump.
Switching operating systems can be a long and slow process, particularly for organizations with lots of computers to consider. In a post on the Google Cloud blog, Chrome's engineering director Max Christoff writes: "We have enterprises covered, even if they haven’t yet made the full move to Windows 10."
"We will continue to fully support Chrome on Windows 7 for a minimum of 18 months from Microsoft's End of Life date, until at least July 15, 2021."
Longer browser support
Few people would argue against the assertion that it's not a good idea to use an operating system that is no longer supported and no longer receiving security updates. But while it may be inadvisable to stick with Windows 7 in the long term, some organizations have no option in the short term.
As such, it's great to see that Google is taking steps to ensure that even if Windows 7 will not receive any more updates, Chrome will. We'll just have to wait and see whether the likes of Firefox and Opera follow Chrome's lead.
Are you ready for the end of support for Windows 7? Check out our guide about to how to prepare.
Via 9to5Google
