Microsoft will soon end the Extended Security Updates program for Windows 7, finally putting the beloved operating system to rest. The company also does not plan to offer paid security updates for Windows 8.1, which means both versions are about to bite the dust. Those sticking to the good-old Windows 7 and arguably not-so-good Windows 8.1 are now getting more notifications with prompts to update to Windows 10 or Windows 11.
The recently released Google Chrome 108 is now displaying warnings about the upcoming end of support on Windows 7 and 8.1:
To get future Google Chrome updates, you"ll need Windows 10 or later. This computer is using Windows 7.
Google plans to stop updating its browser on the aforementioned operating systems alongside Microsoft, so here is an extra incentive to move to Windows 10 or 11 if the hardware supports the latter (not to mention apps that will soon stop working on Windows 7). Besides, you can still activate Windows 11 (and 10) using keys from Windows 7.
To put it mildly, browsing the modern internet using an unsupported operating system and browser is risky (like downloading music with Limewire). Despite that, some users will remain loyal to Windows 7 like your average Windows XP devotees. Such customers can silence the new Chrome notifications with a Windows Registry value that suppresses the update prompts. Here is how to do that:
- Press Win + R and type regedit.
- Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome and create a new DWORD 32-bit value.
- Rename the value to SuppressUnsupportedOSWarning.
- Open the value and change its data to 1.
Unlike Google and developers of other Chromium-based browsers who already set their minds on ending Windows 7 support early next year, Mozilla has yet to decide when to pull the plug on Firefox for Windows 7. Developers are considering giving Firefox users on the soon-to-be-dead Windows versions more than six months of extra support in the ESR channel.