Tag: Windows Vista

Today, Microsoft is officially calling it a day on Windows Vista.  The ten year old version of Windows has officially reached EOL (End of Life) and if there are any readers who are still using it, it is seriously time to upgrade.  EOL means that Microsoft is doing nothing to support the OS any longer.  There will be no further security updates or patches and no service packs for the platform.  In other words, you are on your own.  Microsoft is still maintaining and supporting Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10.

Windows Vista was codenamed Longhorn and was the first in a series of departures from the traditional look and feel of Windows to that point.  It was also the first version of Windows that seriously focused on security with multiple security improvements over Windows XP.  It was launched in October 2009 globally.

Google has announced that starting February 8, 2017, Chrome 53 and earlier will not be supported for Gmail.  Starting then, a banner will be displayed indicating that an update is recommended for a safer experience.  The current version of Chrome is build 56 for desktops.

The impact is most likely going to be felt by those who are still on Windows XP or Windows Vista.  Chrome 49 was the last supported version for these Operating Systems and Google, as Microsoft themselves have done, are no longer supporting them.  In Google’s announcement, users on XP and Vista are strongly encouraged to update to a new version of Windows.