Chrome for Windows 7 refuses to die: Security updates coming until at least mid-January 2022

According to a study conducted by Kantar that was commissioned by Google Chrome Enterprise, in the second quarter of 2020, only 78% of the companies evaluated had fully migrated their infrastructure to Windows 10. Out of the remaining 22%, 21% were still in the process of migrating, and companies that accounted for the single percent left were in the "plan to start migrating soon" stage. Considering these, Google has decided to add six months to the day when Chrome support on Windows 7 is supposed to end.

The official blog post by Chrome's Engineering Director Max Christoff reads the following: "After assessing the current situation, and based on feedback from our valued enterprise customers, Chrome is extending our support for Windows 7 until at least January 15, 2022. That’s a 6-month extension from our previously communicated date of July 15, 2021. We’ll continue to evaluate the conditions our enterprise customers are facing, and communicate any additional changes in the future."

Since the migration plans of many businesses were turned upside-down by the ongoing COVID019 pandemic, the January 15, 2022 date mentioned above depends a lot on the evolution of this viral-induced economic turmoil. Free support for Windows 7 ceased on January 14, 2020, although businesses still stuck with it for various reasons can pay for Extended Security Updates.