Windows 7 Survival Guide
There are still a few people, like myself, who won't let go of Windows 7 despite microsoft wanting to force everyone to get a new version. For now, I'll refrain from ranting and explaining why I prefer Windows 7, and instead I'll just get right to it.
Software Workarounds
Many programs have started to "drop support" for Windows 7, meaning, in most cases, that they choose, on purpose, to check if the computer is running windows 7, and then refuse to run. Maybe out of spite, I don't know. In many cases, simply reporting a different OS version to the misbehaving program will make if function perfectly fine. There is software that can do this.
VxKex Kernel Extensions
VxKex is a set of API extensions for Windows 7 that allow some Windows 8, 8.1 and 10-exclusive applications to run on Windows 7.
--VxKex github page, see above link
VxKex can report a different Windows version to a program and/or redirect OS API calls in such a way that programs can still run on Windows 7, even when they use API calls only found in newer OS versions. In other words, VxKex can make some software that no longer works on 7 work again.
Browsers
Unfortunately, most mainstream browsers are dropping support for Windows 7. Newer versions might be made to work using VxKex, but there are also browser forks made to support older Windows versions.
The rest of this page is a work in progress.
Browsers that support Windows 7 without workarounds
Firefox no longer supports Windows 7, but the ESR (Extended Support Release) form of Firefox still works. Windows 7 and 8.1 users should use ESR 115, not ESR 128. ESR 115 is essentially an extended version of the final version of Firefox to work on Windows 7, which was version 115.
Ungoogled Chromium is a fork of Chrome that removes some Google integration and is otherwise the same. Version 109.0.5414.120 is the last version to work on Windows 7.
Also check out this link for useful information about Chromium.Pale Moon is the browser I use to create this site. It currently supports Windows 7 in its latest release (As of July 2025/Version 33).
R3dfox is a fork of Firefox made to support Windows 7 and Vista. It comes from eclipse.cx.
Supermium is "An up-to-date Chromium-based web browser compatible with Windows XP, 2003, Vista, 7, 8.x, and newer." In my opinion it's currently the best chromium-based browser for Windows 7.
(This link also has resources for Windows 7 including compatible software).
Another chromium browser made by someone who cares about Windows 7.