Back one year ago, Google announced that it would ultimately end Google Chrome support for Windows Vista and Windows XP in April of 2016. Today another software community has followed in the footsteps of the search engine giant, as Mozilla announced that Firefox is officially ending support for the now 15-year-old Windows XP and 10-year- old Windows Vista operating systems.
According to Mozilla, Firefox version 52 will be the last complete update for Windows XP and Windows Vista, and security updates will be released, but with no new features. The news comes after Microsoft ended support for Windows XP in 2014, and as Microsoft plans to end support for Windows Vista in 2017. Mozilla also notes that the unsupported operating systems receive no security updates, have known exploits, and can be dangerous to use, which makes it difficult to maintain Firefox on those versions.
Firefox security updates for XP and Vista users will continue until September 2017, although new features will not be offered. In mid-2017, a final support end date will be announced based on the number of users still on Windows XP and Vista.
Unfortunately, for those who are still using Windows XP or Vista, Mozilla believes that switching to a different browser is not the solution to staying protected. These users instead need to update their operating system in order to keep Firefox up to date. The group points users to upgrading to a Linux based system, or Windows 7, 8, or 10.
Most browsers (such as Google Chrome and Microsoft Internet Explorer) have already ended support for Windows XP and Windows Vista.
If upgrading your operating system is not an option, you can still expect continued Firefox security updates until September 2017. In March 2017, if you are using Firefox with Windows XP or Windows Vista, you will automatically be updated to the Extended Support Release version of Firefox. You will continue to receive important Firefox security updates but no other features or updates. You do not need to do anything else.
Mozilla also notes that enterprise users should also consider September 2017 as the support end date for Windows XP and Vista. Firefox Nightly and Aurora users, meanwhile, also no longer have support, and should also consider moving to the release version of Firefox by downloading it here or upgrading their operating system to a version of Windows that Microsoft still supports.
Are you still using Firefox on Windows XP or Windows Vista? Will this end of support be a bigger reason to upgrade your operating system? Let us know what you think by dropping us a comment below!
