Anyone still using Windows 7, 8, 8.1 or macOS 10.12, 10.13 or 10.14 will soon no longer receive Firefox updates. The Mozilla Foundation has now announced this. After a short swing to an LTS version, support will finally end in 2024.
Firefox version 115, which is scheduled for release in early July, is said to be the last version that still officially supports the old operating systems. The developers explainthat Microsoft ended support for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 in January and that they therefore no longer received security updates – although there are known exploits. Without official support from Microsoft, support for decommissioned operating systems is expensive for Mozilla and dangerous for users.
Firefox end of support also affects old macOS
Older macOS versions, namely 10.12, 10.13 and 10.14, would not have official security update guidelines. In practice, however, Apple supports the three most recent operating system versions, explain the Mozilla developers. The last available update for macOS 10.14 was from July 2021. The other arguments are the same as for the end of Windows support: Known security gaps would not be closed, support without the operating system manufacturer would be expensive for Mozilla, and users would be in danger.
Even under old macOS, Firefox 115 has reached the end of the road. Mozilla wants to guarantee support for Firefox ESR 115 until September 2024. Mozilla wants to automatically install the ESR version on affected operating systems.
Switching to other web browsers such as Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge is not a solution. These would have already ended support for old Windows versions.
(dmk)