Suggestions for Browser and Email Client for 64-bit Win 8.1

[lmacri]

Can anyone suggest a secure browser and email client for an acquaintance who has a "plain vanilla" 64-bit Windows 8.1 machine?

I am aware that Mozilla is ending support for the legacy FF ESR v115.x browser for Win 7 / Win 8.x in Sep 2025 and that FF ESR v115.27.0 (rel. 19-Aug-2025) will be the last FF browser released by Mozilla for these older OSs.  I recommended they try r3dfox (a fork of modern Firefox) or Supermium (a fork of modern Chrome) but would appreciate knowing if someone has another suggestion for a supported browser that still runs on a Win 8.1 OS.

I also recommended Thunderbird ESR for an email client, but I have no idea if Mozilla as made any similar announcements about dropping support for Thunderbird in the near future for Win 7 / Win 8.x OSs, or if there are other email clients that still support Win 8.1.
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Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.6218 * Firefox v142.0.1 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.25070.5-1.1.25070.4 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.3.6.205-138.0.5346 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * MS Outlook 2019

Edited August 28 by lmacri
Revised from 32-bit to 64-bit Win 8.1

[NotHereToPlayGames]

These work in 7 so therefore should also work in 8.1  --  https://github.com/e3kskoy7wqk/Chromium-for-windows-7

[superleiw]

Mozilla extended ESR v115 for 6 more months. Further extensions are also possible.

https://msfn.org/board/topic/181987-list-of-software-that-doesnt-support-windows-7/page/34/#findComment-1281886

 

Edited Friday at 05:40 AM by superleiw

[Karla Sleutel]

Just like Supermium, others have a huge memory leak and crashes, so I tested this one, no leak! Most likely due to the 32bit nature.

https://github.com/e3kskoy7wqk/Chromium-for-windows-7/releases/tag/136.0.7063.0

More info about the leak.

https://github.com/win32ss/supermium/issues/1566

[lmacri]

Thanks to everyone for their browser suggestions.

As superliew noted <above>, Mozilla has given Firefox ESR v115.x (the legacy version for Win 7 and 8.1) another last-minute reprieve and decided to extend support for this browser until March 2026 (see the official Firefox ESR release calendar at https://whattrainisitnow.com/release/?version=esr) so I'll be recommending my acquaintance stay with Firefox ESR v115.x, assuming uBlock Origin and other popular browser extensions continue to work with the FF v115.x branch for the next 6 months.

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any similar announcements about an extension for Mozilla’s Thunderbird ESR v115.x mail client for Win 7 and 8.1.  AFAIK Thunderbird ESR v115.18.0 (rel. 24-Dec-2024) is still the final release for Thunderbird ESR 115.
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Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.6218 * Firefox v142.0.1 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.25070.5-1.1.25070.4 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.3.8.212-140.0.5364 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * MS Outlook 2019

Edited 5 hours ago by lmacri