Regaring browser security once your browser stops supporting an old OS, try Supermium. A fork of current Chrome. Support currently goes back to XP and comes in 32 and 64 bit versions. I use it on a MS-Windows 7 box once in a great while and it seems fine.
Interesting option, and thanks for the suggestion. I’ve downloaded the 64-bit version but haven’t installed it yet.
The concern I have with this is that it’s quite obscure and there’s not a lot of experience with it. In fact, the site I downloaded it from warned that “this is not a popular download so exercise caution before installing”. I got a bunch of security flags from my own threat detection software just trying to download it which prevented the download unless I overrode it.
I did force a download and a virus/malware scan on the setup file revealed no detectable threats but I’m very nervous about this whole thing so I don’t think I’m going down that road.
Sometimes jumping through hoops to try to protect yourself from malware can be counterproductive.
Is there some objection to Firefox?
For Windows 10, any browser that’s still supported is fine. That includes Firefox for sure, and probably Edge and Chrome. Remember that I’m a Luddite still running Windows 7, but even there, Firefox is fine if you’re on their ESR (Extended Support Release) program. My version of Firefox was last updated just a couple of weeks ago. The problem is that I think ESR for Windows 7 ends very soon.
I installed Windows 11 by accident a couple of months ago - I pressed “Yes” to the prompt when I had intended to press “No” like usual, and then left my computer for a few hours. When I came back, it was already fully installed.
I had to make some cosmetic changes to make it look like Windows 10, but other than that, I haven’t really noticed much of a difference. It’s fine. It works.
I did that too. I used these two apps to do some basic readjustments, and they work reliably without clashing: WinAero Tweaker and StartAllBack.
Eh, I just moved everything to the left and set the taskbar the way I like it. I do 99% of everything on my computer off my taskbar anyway, so once that was done I barely noticed the change.
I have sympathies to those who have difficulties with the changing UI elements of Windows. You are happy with how things are, and don’t want disruption. However if look and feel are the things keeping you from migrating to Windows 11, …it’s best to just do it and get over it. Pull that bandage off quick. You’ll be much safer, and you’ll get used to it.
However if you are like me and there are other reasons you do not want to migrate (Ai or MS Recall security concerns, general MS and Apple’s anti-consumer practices, non-supported hardware, desire to learn new things) You should try out a Linux as a new operating system that’ll fit your needs.
Thank you for your accidental testimony. That’s been my experience as well. There are a few minor improvements. Like Notepad automatically saves any document in progress when you close it. (Though I look forward to someone saying that’s not an improvement or they hate that feature.)
One thing I noticed with the new Notepad is it keeps multiple notes you were working open and accessible with each one having it’s own tab. That’s a plus.
On the flip side if you want to send a picture to/from your phone via Bluetooth, that menu is buried deep now.
I didn’t notice this because one of the first things I do on every Windows computer is to install notepad++, but IIRC that’s the first major change for notepad since Windows 3.1, at least for its UI.
I just upgraded my PC but disabled TPIM so MS won’t bug me about Win 11. I’ll stay prudent and on Win 10 for now.
The real risk with Windows 7 (and it likely won’t be a risk with Windows 10 for quite some time yet) is that stuff that you depend on may suddenly stop working. For instance, my tax preparation software no longer works on Win7 as of this year. Not for security reasons, but because it relies on a version of NET Framework that’s no longer supported on Win7. I could easily get a “browser no longer supported” message from institutions that I rely on.
So I’m glad that I recently bought a relatively low-end Dell laptop with Windows 11. At least I have something to fall back on, even if I’m so not-excited about the prospect that I haven’t even set it up yet. I can also use it as a sandbox to get other apps up and running under Win11 until I eventually get a new Optiplex desktop.
Freaking great! Another reason to hate Windows 11! It might not be so bad using Word instead, but there is no way I’m giving Microsoft my hard-earned money for a new version of Office. The latest version I have is Office 2007 which may – or may not – work under Windows 11. If it works, it will be by the grace of Og and certainly not because Bill Gates gives a shit about backwards compatibility. As I mentioned earlier, it took me three months to resolve all the app incompatibilities between Windows XP and Windows 7.
Of possible interest for users still on Win10. Personally, OneDrive is one of the things I hate most about the Win11 setup on my work laptop. For personal use, I’ve always just opted for a “local account” rather than linking my Windows installation to a Microsoft account.
I recently purchased a new PC from a local independent supplier, with Win11 pre-installed with a local account (with no password). I saw no reason to change that configuration.
“Your browser will soon be incompatible with this community. To keep participating here, please upgrade your browser or learn more.”
Message today when connecting to the SDMB. 
Kids these days and their newfangled toys! I hate 'em!
I get that message from time to time from other sites. (Never gotten it from the SDMB.) Something along the lines of, “For the best experience use <some other browser>. Otherwise your experience here could turn out to be a piece of shit.” But I go on ignoring those statements and so far my experience, if it turns out to be a piece of shit, is due to the content of the site, not the browser. I use Firefox, which now offers updates about once a week. They’re keepin’ up with sumthin’.
Yeah. Most of those messages amount to:
We don’t want to pay for our web developers to develop and test against all cuurent browsers. Just the latest version of the big two.
So if our cheapness hurts you, tough sh**!!
My impression is that effective sometime in May, “incompatible” older browsers accessing Discourse will be forced into a minimalist HTML mode without any features. It might still work, but will look like shit. The approach of Discourse developers seems to be “all-or-nothing” – you either have a browser that supports “relative color syntax, subgrid, and lookbehind regex” (how could we have ever survived this long without it, whatever the fuck it is!) or, at best, you’ll be reduced to a minimalist interface that looks like Netscape Navigator 1.0.
I still remember when people found out you could make the text BLINK!