Mozilla extends Firefox support on Windows 7 [and other OS] once again

Two years ago, Mozilla released Firefox 115, the final version to support Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and a bunch of macOS releases. A year later, Mozilla revealed its plans to extend support for outdated Windows versions by releasing additional security updates for Firefox 115 ESR. After that, developers postponed the end of support two more times, and they are doing it once again.

Mozilla published a notification on the official Firefox release calendar website with details about the end of Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 support. It says the following:

We decided to extend support for ESR 115 only on Windows 7-8.1 and macOS 10.12-10.14 up to March 2026. We will re-evaluate this decision in February 2026 and announce any updates on ESR 115's end-of-life then.

Firefox is the only mainstream browser that still gets security updates for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1, which went out of support in January 2023. Mainstream Windows 10 support is ending in one month, and manufacturers and developers are already planning their strategy to end drivers and software support. Mozilla, meanwhile, still releases updates for Firefox 115 ESR on Windows 7.

In late 2024, one of Mozilla's engineers said that supporting Windows 7 with its tiny market share is not free, and it is "getting increasingly painful due to the divergence which naturally happens over time." However, the browser still has enough Windows 7 users to justify expenses on backporting security updates to Firefox 115 ESR.

Considering that Mozilla used the same message as the last time it decided to extend Windows 7 support, it is possible that we would see more updates for Firefox 115 ESR on Windows 7 beyond February 2026. You can find more information about Firefox releases on the official website.

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Posted Friday 5 September 2025 at 3:30 am AEST (my time).

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