Windows 7 may have debuted over 10 years ago, but it still has its share of faithful users who refuse to make the jump to the newest version of the operating system. Old habits tend to die hard, and this iteration of Windows was very popular.
That means there are also scores of Google Chrome users still faithful to their favorite version of Windows. Though Google previously announced in January 2020 that it would effectively be yanking the security blanket from the arms of Windows 7 users browsing with Chrome on July 15, 2021, things have changed a bit.
But this isn’t an altruistic move to coddle users who refuse to upgrade. It’s purely a business decision, at least for those who use Chrome as part of their organization’s IT hierarchy.
In a recent post to the official Google Cloud blog, the search giant announced that it will instead be extending support for the browser on Windows 7 through January 15, 2022. The six-month extension can be owed to the difficulties businesses have faced due to the work-at-home arrangements necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic.
It seems that 21% of organizations utilizing Chrome on Windows 7 are still working to migrate over to Windows 10, Google says.
Google hopes the additional time will allow business users the chance for a smooth transition. Microsoft ceased offering security updates to Windows 7 in January 2020, save for one final update late in the month, though enterprise customers can pay for extended support until 2023.
This is likely going to be the last time Google makes the decision to extend support, so it might be time to get cracking, enterprise user or not. If you’re on the fence, check out 18 Reasons You Should Upgrade to Windows 10.
