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Comment by mtgx | Hacker News Reader

Just for Windows 7? So now they are giving up on supporting Vista, too? Going by this trend, IE11 will only support Windows 8. Meanwhile, Chrome and Firefox support all Windows versions up to XP.

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Chrome and Firefox aren't interested in selling OS upgrades, which means they're not going to cannibalize their own sales. If we look at the closest comparison (i.e. OSX/Safari), it looks like Windows/IE is doing a little better with respect to the duration of the platform support. The version of OSX released at the same time as Windows 7 is Snow Leopard (10.6) and it doesn't look like it'll be getting any more Safari updates (last one was 5.1.7 in May 2012, current is 6.0 on 10.7 and 10.8 only).

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safari_version_history#Version_...

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer_versions

Seeing as mainstream support for Vista ended in April of 2012, I don't see this as a big shock.

Also, Vista usage is already hovering at around 10-12% of all users, so as Windows 8 is released we should see that number decrease gradually.

Vista user here. I'm pretty much waiting on 8 so i can upgrade.

They gave up Windows XP with IE 9. Keeping the same trend, they are giving up Vista with IE 10. In fact, Microsoft is actually getting worse. They are already treating Windows 7 users as second class citizens. IE 10 for Win 7 will only get a preview release in mid-november. Final release will probably come a few months after that. In comparison, Opera still supports Windows 2000, although it recommends at least using Windows XP.

"They are already treating Windows 7 users as second class citizens."

Really? How so? Will I be frisked when I attend the NTSSUG meeting at their facilities tomorrow? Or do I have to open my laptop and show the Windows 8 image running in VMWare to gain entry?

If IE 11 and a few shitty "Formerly known as Metro" apps is the only thing that Windows 7 users are missing, I wouldn't call that discrimination.

Really? Windows 8 is yet to be released, and Microsoft is already delaying product releases for Windows 7. I am already on Win 8, but if I was a Win 7 user, I would be pretty pissed. And going by their track record, in two years they are going to drop support for Win 7 altogether in Internet Explorer and other applications like Windows Movie Maker.

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