Firefox 53 Will Drop Support for Windows XP and Vista

Software companies are one by one giving up on Windows XP support for their products, and now it appears that it’s Mozilla’s turn to switch the focus to newer versions of Windows.

Firefox 53 will be the first version of the browser which will no longer support Windows XP and Windows Vista, so users who haven’t yet upgraded to Windows 7 or newer will have to either stick with Firefox 52 or move to a different browser.

Installation of the new version will be blocked on Windows XP when Firefox 53 launches in March 2017, but the good news is that Firefox 52 will be moved to the ESR (extended support release) branch, so it’ll continue getting patches until mid-2018.

Read more: Firefox 53 Will Drop Support for Windows XP and Windows Vista

 

[Vistaar]

Et tu, Mozilla?

I wasn't expecting this news for at least another six months. On the bright side, the final ESR to support Vista just might allow us to hold out until Windows 11 is released. There is also a possibility that a Firefox fork such as Pale Moon will support Vista even longer. See Moonchild's January 12, 2016 reply to a Vista diehard at https://forum.palemoon.org/viewtopic.php?t=10680#p74541.

 

[Jody Thornton]

I am a bit surprised that Firefox will be dropping Vista support as well. And yes, as of right now, Pale Moon will continue to support Vista. However, keep something in mind. The current x64 version of Visual Studio without any compatibility flags only compiles an application that compatible with Windows 7 or higher. So perhaps, Vista x64 support might be dropped from Pale Moon sooner than one might think.

Also, I wonder if SeaMonkey (which follows in Firefox's lead rendering-wise) will maintain compatibility with Vista for much longer. The unofficial x64 versions that are out there ONLY run on Windows 7 and higher as of right now.

One more thing. There WILL NOT ever be a "Windows 11". Windows 10 will simply evolve over time, no differently than MacOS X has over the past sixteen years.

 

[Vistaar]

Hi Jody. Of course 64-bit builds of Firefox already require Windows 7 or higher, but your observations should further dismay Vista x64 users in need of an alternative browser. At the risk of drifting off topic:

There WILL NOT ever be a "Windows 11". Windows 10 will simply evolve over time

I have certainly seen discussion to that effect, but I find it difficult to take seriously. We're talking about a product that most Windows 7 users wouldn't take if Microsoft offered free upgrades for a year (albeit the Windows 8.1 user base has been decimated). Anyway, the old reliable Windows lifecycle fact sheet states that mainstream support for Windows 10 will end in October 2020 and extended support in October 2025.

 

[Jody Thornton]

I have certainly seen discussion to that effect, but I find it difficult to take seriously. We're talking about a product that most Windows 7 users wouldn't take if Microsoft offered free upgrades for a year (albeit the Windows 8.1 user base has been decimated). Anyway, the old reliable Windows lifecycle fact sheet states that mainstream support for Windows 10 will end in October 2020 and extended support in October 2025.

Right, so next will be a newer iteration of Windows 10. Look at Mac OSX. Since it debuted in 2000, it has transformed into a completely different OS, and support has stopped on those earlier releases. In fact, if you think about it, Windows 10 has seen a lot of change over the year too. And when you buy a notebook in a couple of years, the bundled version of Windows 10 will be quite different than what was first issued on July 29, 2015.


What makes you skeptical of that? Seems to me it was pretty clear from Microsoft. But things can always change.