Around 2015-2016 Windows XP was practically dead in mainstream, despite having ESU support for embedded version until 2019. Not much you can do with 32-bit OS really. And yet Steam also supported it until 2019.
Windows 7 64-bit so far fairs a bit better, outliving all official ESU support dates. Heck, even Steam still works on 2024 beta versions so far. Although 2026 will be the last nail in the coffin, because Microsoft will finally stop all support of Windows Server 2008 R2, from which Windows 7 users are currently piggybacking security updates.

I reckon Valve will also revision something on their side in early 2026, so it will completely break access to Steam. 2024 build already have issues with downloading new game archives.

16+ years. It had a good run.

The Serpent Rider wrote on 2025-11-17, 05:40:

Although 2026 will be the last nail in the coffin, because Microsoft will finally stop all support of Windows Server 2008 R2, from which Windows 7 users are currently piggybacking security updates.

Which SKU of Server 2008 R2 is supported till 2026?

kolderman wrote on 2025-11-15, 11:47:

What was it like being stuck on dx9 post 2010?

0 issues. never cared that much. win xp just worked so good for what i needed.

windows vista and 7 have a weird look to them. never bothered. the ui was just too much. and since xp worked a treat , why change?

the only change ive done , was around 2008 2009 , when i moved from xp 32 bit to xp 64 bit. and from that time till 2015 2016 , never reinstalled windows.

just like with windows 10. from 2015/16 till 2024 , not reinstalled windows. Even when upgraded , it just worked with the new hardware , only had to install new drivers.

long are the days when you need to reinstall windows every half year or so... that was only an issue with win9x. ever since xp , 0 issues.

dr_st wrote on 2025-11-17, 06:30:

Which SKU of Server 2008 R2 is supported till 2026?

Server 2008 R2 Premium Assurance. Ends in January.

Interesting. How do you get the patches from there? Are they available on the MS catalog? I assume it has to be like getting Server 2008 SP2 patches for Vista x64.

I recall I saw cumulative security updates in MS catalog. Obviously they can't be installed on Windows 7 as is, but there's a popular third-party patcher, there's a heated debate about it on Steam forums.

The Serpent Rider wrote on 2025-11-17, 12:49:

I recall I saw cumulative security updates in MS catalog. Obviously they can't be installed on Windows 7 as is, but there's a popular third-party patcher, there's a heated debate about it on Steam forums.

Hah. For Vista you could just install them. All the way up to January 2023 I heard it said 😜

Windows 7 x86 and x64 are still used on most of the computers at my work, including my work computer. I'm trying to upgrade these computers to at least 8.1 x64, but it's not easy, as they're used every day. I install Windows 10 x64 on some, but only if the hardware is powerful enough. By that, I mean at least 4 cores and 8 GB of memory.

Yeah, I still somewhat operate windows 7 on some of my SSDs and swap em between machines that have compatible ATA, AHCI drivers since linux keeps getting heavier and is abandoning 32 bit support. Silly enough, I got windows 7 working out of the box on H470 but too bad I didn't got USB 3.0 drivers so no usb mouse and keyboard for me (for now)

Yes I'm still using Windows 7.
It's my gaming DirectX machine for the 2000s.

I have no interest in Windows 10, and maybe I will get Windows 11 in the future.

The Serpent Rider wrote on 2025-11-17, 05:40:

Around 2015-2016 Windows XP was practically dead in mainstream, despite having ESU support for embedded version until 2019. Not […]
Show full quote

Around 2015-2016 Windows XP was practically dead in mainstream, despite having ESU support for embedded version until 2019. Not much you can do with 32-bit OS really. And yet Steam also supported it until 2019.
Windows 7 64-bit so far fairs a bit better, outliving all official ESU support dates. Heck, even Steam still works on 2024 beta versions so far. Although 2026 will be the last nail in the coffin, because Microsoft will finally stop all support of Windows Server 2008 R2, from which Windows 7 users are currently piggybacking security updates.

I reckon Valve will also revision something on their side in early 2026, so it will completely break access to Steam. 2024 build already have issues with downloading new game archives.

16+ years. It had a good run.

About what?¿ i use 32bit OS and works fine for everything

I think it's safe to assume that Windows Server 2008 R2 updates are finally over. There were some rumors that maybe Microsoft will roll out the last batch in February, but looks like that wasn't the case.

So this is it. The end of an era. Windows 7 is finally a completely dead operating system.

Windows 7 for ever!!!

Seriously, just updated one of my 64-bit machines to the January update. No news on anything newer yet. Let's give it a few more months just in case. Anti-malware and Defender signature updates still happen.

Also, Firefox made their last release 115.32.1ESR, so that's the end of support for all major browsers. There's only r3dfox (that i know of), that gets an occasional release. It seems to work fine, except that you can't set the default download folder - it always sets itself to "your profile \ downloads". And also, like any of these homebrew things, there's no auto update.

Windows 7 still my daily driver as I don't do any modern gaming and I installed the Supremium web browser, this PC still meets my needs.

About the only security it still receives are the 2 or 3x per day Security Intelligence Updates for Microsoft Endpoint Protection, which, looking back at my update history, have been happening daily since I built this PC in 2015.

And Firefox just released 115.33.0, which fixes over 20 security issues, so if you're a Firefox user you should probably get this version.

Robbbert wrote on Yesterday, 22:40:

And Firefox just released 115.33.0, which fixes over 20 security issues, so if you're a Firefox user you should probably get this version.

IIRC the root certificate expiration last year broke pretty much every Firefox-based browser builds (official and unofficial) that used to support Win7 regarding extensions. Basically all extensions get disabled and attempting to reinstall them would fail with them being "corrupt". I had to switch to r3dfox for every Win7 instance I still use because of this.

If there are still new official releases (ESR) that can support Win7, that's good to hear. However, I'm starting to worry this is only the tip of the iceberg. Don't know if we're going to see more software and/or system components falling apart in the next few years due to expired certificates.

I am still running Win7 on my main use PC.
PC is a Athlon FX 8350 w/16gb DDR3, Radeon R270, and the same install since 2013, never had to do a reinstall.
Runs solid, it has been nearly running 24/7 in that time, except for the occasional reboot for those rare crashes, or software or hardware update.
Note I do have another PC that I game on, a Ryzen 7600X3D, 32GB DD4, Radeon 9070. But I just can't get myself to move over to it as my main PC.

The only certificate issue I had was that the Defender definitions wouldn't update - no error - it just thought there wasn't anything newer. Turned out it was an expired certificate, so I used one of a multitude of sources to update all certificates, and then it was fixed. So whatever this expired root certificate is, just update it.

Keeping certificates up to date manually is a must on unsupported systems. I've updated certs on all my old machines, even on win9x and NT4.

And, the few extensions I use (ublock origin and new tab) work fine. The only machine to give issues is a Win7 evaluation build which can run firefox 88 as the latest version, and the other day it kicked out ublock origin. Haven't figured out how to get around that yet.

The real problem is cloudflare etc who blocks all browsers apart from the very newest.

Robbbert wrote on Today, 06:38:

And, the few extensions I use (ublock origin and new tab) work fine. The only machine to give issues is a Win7 evaluation build which can run firefox 88 as the latest version, and the other day it kicked out ublock origin. Haven't figured out how to get around that yet.

Last March a root certificate used on Firefox expired which caused almost all extensions to be rejected.

If you use Firefox ESR or other unofficial forks built after that point, chances are the root certificates have already been updated to address the issue. IIRC current MyPal 68 builds (mainly for WinXP) are not affected.

TBH this has set a dangerous precedent I've never really considered before. Pretty much every certificate issued has an expiration date that will inevitably be reached, and by that point the affected software (or last major versions with support of a certain Windows version) may have long gone out of official support which means breakage that vendors may not be willing or able to address.

Robbbert wrote on Today, 06:38:

Keeping certificates up to date manually is a must on unsupported systems. I've updated certs on all my old machines, even on win9x and NT4.

The aforementioned certificate affected only one scope that is Firefox Extensions. Sadly the only way to resolve this problem is install a newer build that had the certificate updated, usually a new Firefox release after version 128, or a custom source build compiled with updated certificates.

I think root certificates can still be updated on WinXP, as is being done by some unofficial compilations. Not sure about older Windows like 9x or NT but their core functionality may not really depend on certificates as much as newer Windows. Driver signing, for instance, existed at least since WinXP but it was only since Vista that it became mandatory.

Thanks for the info on the Firefox-specific certificate. Like most of these organisations, they just say to update, rather than letting us download the new certificate.

I suppose it could mean that lots of things will just stop working one day, like you say. Another case of forced end-of-life, even for things that should keep working.