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Google has decided to extend Chrome support for Windows 7 for another six months beyond its original plan to give customers more time if their migration plans to Windows 10 are delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In January, Google said Chrome support would continue until at least July 2021, but that was a few months before the pandemic hit.
Google has now confirmed that Chrome will support Windows 7 until at least January 15, 2022. After that date, customers cannot be guaranteed to receive security updates for Chrome on Windows 7.
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The extended support period reflects the different effects the pandemic has had on IT projects and the use of technology in business. For example, in April, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the company had experienced two years of digital transformation in two months as customers scrambled to support remote work and work-from-home policies. That helped video collaboration platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams, which have seen their use explode.
On the other hand, Google’s director of engineering for Chrome, Max Christoff, notes that many IT projects have stalled due to the pandemic, including major Windows 10 migration plans.
“While the past few months served as a catalyst for technology investments and digital transformation initiatives for many organizations, for others, some planned IT projects may have had to take a backseat,” Christoff said in a blog post. .
A study that Google commissioned in the second quarter of 2020 found that 21% of companies were still in the process of migrating to Windows 10.
“With this support extension, companies with their updates still in progress can be assured that users who remain on Windows 7 will continue to benefit from the security and productivity benefits of Chrome,” said Christoff.
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Microsoft ended free support for Windows 7 on January 14, 2020. However, companies had the option of paying for extended security updates for Windows 7.
Organizations in some industries, such as healthcare, struggled to upgrade to Windows 10 before that deadline.
