Mozilla Keeps Extending Firefox Support for Windows 7

Since 2023, the Mozilla Foundation has been gradually phasing out support for legacy operating systems, including Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, macOS 10.12, macOS 10.13 and macOS 10.14, and at the time relied on Firefox ESR version 115 to extend compatibility with these outdated platforms, with the plan to end support once usage fell below a certain threshold, according to Mozilla Foundation.

Yet, over the past two years, Mozilla has repeatedly extended this support, and even now Firefox ESR continues to function on these older systems, with no immediate intention to discontinue it. The latest usage data shows that among Firefox users, 39.352% are on Windows 11, 38.926% on Windows 10, 6.769% still rely on Windows 7, and the remaining 14.952% are distributed across other operating systems.

From this perspective, maintaining support for Windows 7 remains a practical necessity, as discontinuing updates would leave a notable segment of users unable to receive critical patches or security fixes for their browser. Those still on Windows 7 likely place little emphasis on security, since without operating system patches, browser updates alone are insufficient to provide true protection.