Firefox and Thunderbird 115 are the Last Versions for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1

If you have Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 operating system installed in your computer and you use Mozilla Firefox as your primary web browser to surf the Internet or Mozilla Thunderbird email client software to access your email accounts, here is a very important news for you. The latest Firefox 115 and Thunderbird 115 versions will be the last versions of Firefox and Thunderbird released for these outdated operating systems. Future versions of Firefox and Thunderbird such as version 116 and later will not be released for Windows 7/8/8.1 operating systems.

Similarly, version 115 is the last major version of Firefox and Thunderbird released for Apple macOS 10.12 (Sierra), 10.13 (High Sierra) and 10.14 (Mojave) versions.

Windows 7/8/8.1 Users will be Locked on Firefox 115 Version

Microsoft has already stopped supporting these 3 OS since January 2023 and now Mozilla has also announced that Firefox 115 is the last supported version for Windows 7/8/8.1. According to Mozilla announcement, Microsoft has ended support for these 3 OS, so it’ll be hard for Mozilla to maintain the software on these outdated operating systems. Windows 7/8/8.1 will not receive any security update and might have known issues and exploits which can affect Firefox and other software programs on these devices.

If Mozilla continues supporting Firefox on Windows 7/8/8.1, it’ll become costly for the company and might become dangerous for Firefox users.

So if you want to use Firefox in your Windows 7/8/8.1 device, it’ll be locked to version 115 forever and will not be upgraded to future versions.

PS: Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Opera web browsers already stopped supporting Windows 7/8/8.1 in past.

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Users on Windows 7/8/8.1 will be Migrated to Firefox 115 ESR Edition

Firefox ESR is a special channel or branch which stands for Extended Support Release. It’s a special edition of Firefox web browser which doesn’t receive new features and enhancements frequently. This specific edition of Firefox is developed for enterprises and users who don’t want to see surprising UI changes and unwanted new features regularly. Users who want to receive only security and important updates along with bug fixes for Firefox, should install ESR edition.

The ESR edition has been upgraded to version 115 and Mozilla will migrate all Firefox stable users on Windows 7/8/8.1 devices to Firefox ESR edition automatically. In this way, Firefox users on these unsupported OS will keep receiving important security updates and bug fixes and will not get new version updates.

PS: Users on macOS 10.12, 10.13 and 10.14 versions will also be migrated to Firefox ESR 115 version.

Firefox ESR on Windows 7/8/8.1 will Receive Security Updates till September 2024

Once Firefox users are moved to ESR 115 version on Windows 7/8/8.1, Mozilla will continue releasing important or critical security updates for these devices till September 2024. So Firefox users on Windows 7/8/8.1 devices can safely use the web browser till September 2024 without worries.

After September 2024, Mozilla will stop providing any update for Firefox 115 version on Windows 7/8/8.1 devices and users will have to either upgrade the Windows version or switch to a different web browser still supported for these outdated OS.

Firefox Users! Upgrade to Windows 10/11 or Change the Web Browser

So the bottom line is that if you want to stick with Firefox web browser, you should plan to upgrade to Windows 10 or Windows 11 operating systems so that you can continue receiving new version updates and important security updates for Firefox in future.

If you have no plans to upgrade Windows and want to stick with Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 in your computer, you should switch to another web browser which will keep receiving support from its company in coming months or years.

Using Firefox on Windows 7/8/8.1 after September 2024 will be risky and harmful as no security, performance or compatibility issue will be fixed after this date.

Users on Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems will keep getting new version updates (version 116 and later) for Firefox in future.

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