On Thursday, Mozilla blog published a short article announcing the company was going to stop supporting Windows XP and Vista in September 2017. It strongly encouraged long-time users to update their computers.
Current Firefox users for both versions of Windows will become a part of the Firefox Extended Support Release, starting next March.
Firefox is one of the few browsers left that still supports not only Vista but the classic XP version of Windows. Mozilla will continue adding security updates for users until the September deadline.
What is the Mozilla Firefox ESR?
The Firefox Extended Support Release project is a community-driven effort by Mozilla to deploy Firefox in large organizations such as businesses, schools, and similar institutions.
Firefox ESR is a different type of Mozilla browser that does not update as regularly as the standard version and still contains all the features any user might need to browse the internet securely.
Mozilla’s inclusion of Windows Vista and XP users in this category has to do with their upcoming inability to update the main version of the browser, but it is only a temporary measure. The company plans to cut support for Vista and XP entirely at some point.
Why do people still use Windows XP or Vista?
By now, most online reviewers would agree that anyone using Windows XP or Vista is doing it for comfort reasons or force of habit. These old versions of Windows can pose a tremendous risk to data security.
On April of this year, Chrome released the main version that no longer supported Windows XP and Vista, which prompted users to look for alternatives (such as Firefox).
With the old Mozilla browser ready to turn the lights off on these systems, the Opera browser emerges as the best replacement, offering users a few more years of support and browsing perks that still work on old machines.
Opera’s last Windows XP-supported version is number 36, which users can still download from their official website. Both Vista and XP no longer receive feature updates, only security and stability patches. However, updating would be the best option.
Users can check their version of Windows to compare with supported browsers by accessing Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance > System.
Many users who do not update Windows fail to do so because they own old computers. However, many online reviewers have praised Windows 10’s capacity to run smoothly on low-spec PCs.
Source: Mozilla