At least 18 more months of support for Chromium Edge

Jan 14, 2020 05:56 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft will discontinue Windows 7 today, which means that beginning tomorrow, the 2009 operating system would no longer receive any other security patches.

But while the software giant gives up on Windows 7, it doesn’t also leave behind all of its apps running on this OS version. The Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser, for example, will continue to run on Windows 7 for at least 18 more months, according to Microsoft itself.

The new browser will actually become available on Windows 7 tomorrow, one day after the operating system itself is retired. But Microsoft says there’s no need to worry because Edge would still work on Windows 7 (and receive updates just like on any other platform) until July 2021.

This timeframe isn’t necessarily surprising, as Google itself announced that Chrome would continue to receive updates on Windows 7 for 18 more months, so I expect the rest of the Chromium browsers (apps based on the same engine) to follow the same schedule.

Microsoft Edge beyond Windows 10

Thanks to the migration to Chromium, Microsoft is bringing Edge browser to more than just Windows 10, including Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and macOS. A Linux version is also on the table, but no ETA is available on this one just yet.

On Windows 10, the Chromium Microsoft Edge will replace the existing version, but on Windows 7, it will require the manual installation. Users can also run the stable version of Microsoft Edge side by side with Canary, Dev, or Beta builds for testing purposes.

The new Chromium browser will become Microsoft’s recommended choice on all Windows versions – on Windows 10, Internet Explorer will continue to be offered, but the company already recommends against using it as the everyday browser.

At this point, the default browser on Windows 7 is Internet Explorer 11.

Microsoft Edge browser on Windows 10

Via Neowin

Photo Gallery (2 Images)

Microsoft Edge browser on Windows 10
Microsoft Edge browser on Windows 10
Open gallery