Six months after Microsoft ended support for Windows Vista Operating Systems (April 2017), third party software, such as browsers, no longer work well and are not being updated to work with Vista computers. This leaves users in a quandary when trying to access secure financial websites like credit card and online banking sites from their Vista computers. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13853/windows-lifecycle-fact-sheet BROWSER OPTIONS: What are the options? While there are some browsers that will work with Vista, they are not up-to-date and there is no guarantee that your financial sites will accept transactions from them. Opera: The last build of Opera which will run on Vista or XP is 36.0.2130.80; you cannot run a later version without at least Windows 7. https://blogs.opera.com/news/2016/04/chrome-alternative-opera-for-windows-xp-vista/ Click below to download and install latest version of Opera that works on Vista. https://www.opera.com/download/index.dml/?os=windows&ver=36.0.2130.46&local=y Firefox: Firefox version 52 will be the last complete update for Windows XP and Windows Vista. Security updates will be released, but no new features. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/end-support-windows-xp-and-vista https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/52.0a2/system-requirements/ The following page has links to download the latest version of Firefox version 52.4 for Vista 32-bit or 64-bit computers. https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/52.4.1esr/ If you already had firefox, they moved you to their extended support release in April 2017. https://blog.mozilla.org/futurereleases/2016/12/23/firefox-support-for-xp-and-vista/ Chrome: stopped providing support updates for Vista computers in April 2016. Chrome is only available for Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10. https://johnhaller.com/blog/2016-04-13--google-chrome-50-drops-support-for-windows-xp-vista-today Internet Explorer: Internet Explorer 11 is the version officially supported by Microsoft only available for Windows 7, 8, and 10. Unfortunately it does not work with Windows Vista computers. Internet Explorer 9 works with Vista, but is not considered secure by financial websites because it does not receive any Microsoft security fixes. https://www.pcworld.com/article/3019538/windows/microsoft-officially-dumps-internet-explorer-8-9-and-10.html https://www.whatismybrowser.com/guides/how-to-update-your-browser/internet-explorer Edge: This browser was released by Microsoft with Windows 10 and only works on Windows 10 computers. https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_vista-update/will-edge-browser-work-in/ea2e97af-032c-4453-9484-606a80fb11c2?auth=1 OTHER PROBLEMS: Vista computers are wide open to security breaches. This is the main reason that your banking and credit card companies do not let you into their websites. Anti-virus: Many anti-virus software companies no longer provide a version of their software that will run on Vista computers. Windows Updates: The fact that Microsoft is not fixing security problems on Vista computers, and your anti-virus is not being kept up to date, add up to your computer being open and vulnerable to security attacks from hacker, scammers, malware, ransomware and cyber-criminals. OTHER OPTIONS: So what is a Vista computer user to do?
- Upgrade your operating system to Windows 10. This assumes that your older hardware is compatible to run Windows 10; to find this out go to the support portion of your computer manufacturer’s website and put in your model or serial number.
Cost? Approximately: Estimate $225: $120 for the operating system, plus about 3 hours time to install and migrate your files, and reinstall your special programs and devices like printers.
- Buy a new computer: All new towers and laptops are Windows 10 computers. Any of the modern, up-to-date versions of the browsers listed above will work on your new Windows 10 computer. Cost? Estimate $500: $400 for the new computer, plus about 3 hours time to install and migrate your files, and reinstall your special programs and devices like printers.
BOTTOM LINE: Sorry for the bad news, but maybe it is time to bite the bullet and upgrade your computer.
