Opera 36 will be the last for Windows XP and Vista

Martin Brinkmann
Feb 17, 2016
Opera
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Opera Software announced yesterday that Opera 36 will be the last version of the web browser  for Windows XP and Windows Vista, and that all future versions of Opera would only run on newer versions of Windows starting with Windows 7.

The reason why support is being dropped in Opera 37 is Google's announcement back in 2015 that it would end support for Windows XP and Windows Vista starting April 2016.

Opera Software, unlike Google, plans to maintain Opera 36, the last compatible version for systems running Windows XP or Vista, so that users who are running XP or Vista can continue using the web browser.

While Opera 36 will be last one with features additions on Windows XP and Vista, we are still going to provide security and crash fixes to XP and Vista platform. You will no not be able to run Opera 37+ on Windows XP and Vista, we advise you update to more recent OS. Otherwise, we will have Opera 36 for you.

The support length is unknown but support will end eventually. Opera Software will create security and crash fixes for Opera 36 even after the stable branch of the browser moved on to Opera 37 and newer versions.

The maintained version of Opera 36 won't receive any feature updates from that point on though.

Opera suggests to upgrade to a recent operating system to benefit from feature additions to newer versions of the web browser.

Opera 35 Stable was released this week which means that it will take a while before that version is upgraded to version 36.

Opera 36 is currently tested in the beta channel and Opera 37 on the Developer channel.

It is rather surprising that companies are dropping support for Windows Vista, considering that the operating system is still supported by Microsoft.

Extended Support for Windows Vista ends on April 11, 2017. No security patches are released by Microsoft for the operating system to the general public after that last patch day.

Opera Software pushed out an update for the classic version of Opera. Opera 12.18 and Opera Mail were updated fixing several security issues and settings in those classic programs that did not receive updates for two years before the recent update.

The update has only been made available for Windows as there are not "significant numbers of users of Opera 12 and Opera Mail on non-Windows platforms".

Now You: Are you affected by the decision (Opera's or Google's)?

Summary
Opera 36 will be the last for Windows XP and Vista
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Opera 36 will be the last for Windows XP and Vista
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Opera Software announced yesterday that Opera 36 will be the last version of the web browser compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista.
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. MP said on May 10, 2019 at 12:30 am
    Reply

    Where can I get opera 36 for my xp 32bit. It holds the line and I am trying to get to print with an hp printer ink jet. I only get white pages, not the fault of the computer. I may get a new printer – total of 4 printers and 4 computers and basically using 1 computer. I will be happy if I can till use my xp computer, I like it. Can anyone help? Thanks in advance.:)

    1. HJ said on May 10, 2019 at 4:57 pm
      Reply

      https://www.opera.com/download Scroll down to the Opera for XP/VISTA link.

  2. Morgan Sands said on October 10, 2018 at 7:14 am
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    Windows XP was never offered the chance to go to another level in this stupid computer game… however , It is very true to people that understand it.

  3. Paulsee said on March 12, 2018 at 7:04 pm
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    One of the major things that keeps me leery of upgrading to win 7-8-10 is the fact that the hard drive is wiped clean on these upgrades so I would have to start over from scratch to install my many programs and data. The last time I did this it took over two weeks to get back to near normalcy. Another thing is that some of the hardware will not work on the newer OS. Such a pain in the &&*&**
    Microdoft keeps upgrading the OSs so they can rake in more bucks and screw their present customers by forcing them to buy new equipment. Their attitude has always been “if you don’t like it, then use something else”. When a company sets up its network at tens of thousands of dollars, it expects to get some decent mileage out of it. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it is the code word of the buyer. However, planned obsolesense is the code word of the people who hold all the cards.

    1. Suz said on September 7, 2018 at 9:49 am
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      Amen. Where are the persons who want to preserve our resources? We have become a throw away society.
      It is also ridiculous that we have to waste weeks of our time setting up a new computer to continue our work just so the tech giants can get more money (like they are not wealthy enough).
      Thank you, gentlemen, for your service in providing this helpful technology news blog.

  4. Rob Crombie said on August 11, 2017 at 1:07 pm
    Reply

    If anyone is still looking for the download, here it is –
    http://www.opera.com/download/index.dml/?os=windows&ver=36.0.2130.46&local=y

    Rob (an XP user)

  5. HJ said on June 26, 2017 at 10:38 am
    Reply

    I have a Panasonic Toughbook CF-50 circa 2002. It has a 1.5ghz pentium M single core and its maxxed out at 1.25GB RAM. Somebody on another forum mentioning this browser problem for XP. Had me scratching my head. So I got it out and fired it up. Yea, its really a tough old thing, refuses to die though I hadnt regularly used it in some years. Last I used it, think it was pretty much as ebook reader.

    It was from the early XP days and I had at some point put a small unofficial n-lited version of XP called TinyXP on it (last SP3 version of full bloated XP too much for it) and some old version of Puppy Linux. Both ran nice, neither could support a modern full featured browser and IMHO, its pretty mandatory to be able to use extensions like NO-SCRIPT or Ghostery plus an ad blocker and self deleting cookie app so minimalist browsers not really very practical. Just way web is anymore. They want to use your resources and bandwidth to collect your data and sell it for profit. I am on metered data on cell hotspot so it really costs ME for all this nonsense unless I block it.

    So like say tried several linux. A cantankerous DVDrom drive that is really picky about home burned dvds, didnt help. This thing doesnt boot from usb. Modern Puppies took very long time to boot up, ran ok, browser choppy. Xubuntu installed to the ancient IDE hard drive took 45 seconds to a minute to boot and ran kinda choppy. But Xubuntu 16.04 installed to a small SSD (with a $2 mSATA to IDE adapter card) booted quickest in around 20 seconds (newer Lubuntu might work even better?) and ran pretty normal. Yea SSD is LOT FASTER than old clunky hard drives and small SSD not very expensive, especially used, as people buy something with small SSD and upgrade to bigger one…

    Firefox is a slug on it, took 30 seconds to load and there was a noticable hesitancy while browsing, though it did work. Tried portable version 58 of Iron Browser (based on Chromium 58 and can use all the Chrome/Chromium extensions). It loaded in 10 seconds and much faster surfing (turn off smooth scrolling and that prediction nonsense in settings). I would say this combination might be good possibilty for somebody stuck with this vintage of hardware. I certainly could live with it day to day for light surfing and email, if I had to. No doubt wont be long until uptodate browsers need too much RAM for this to work. 1.25GB RAM getting pretty marginal anymore. Some small linux systems claim to run with 512MB RAM, well they might, but again full modern browser wont.

    I dont know if there is any older XP era hardware than this Toughbook, but guessing this is about as old as one can go anymore without it being a complete royal PITA. If you really need to use even older hardware, maybe Slitaz Linux with Midori browser. Or use Kmeleon browser on XP. Kmeleon has some ability to block ads and scripts, and its small and fast.

    I know long ago I used to have a win95 only laptop (too slow for win98 and video chip not supported by linux or BeOS) long after everybody else had given up on such. A version of Kmeleon from that era kept it usable until the display stopped working. Sometimes you just need something to do very light browsing and email. You dont need some mega buck gaming computer and latest mega bloat operating system for that.

    I will also mention that unless you are absolutely destitute, you can get a much more modern laptop off ebay for as low as $20 shipped if you are really sharp and patient shopper/bidder, at least under $50 shipped if you arent quite that hardcore of a shopper. This assumes you have some abilities to work on computer, as these tend to not include hard drive for security reasons. May have other quirks, dont expect miracles or hand holding for $20. Though last of the single cores are lot faster than the Toughbook, think you would be stupid to not get at minimum of a two core with 4GB RAM. 32bit is dying out, both windows and linux. And the old retired buisiness computers usually lot more robust than similar era consumer stuff. For the really astute cheap used laptop buyer, its not that hard to snag something like a Dell Latitude E6330 with third generation i5 processor for under $50. This is a real treat for somebody used to old and slow, and can run modern software well into future. Patience is the key. Oh and on the computers without a hard drive. I truly suggest small SSD, but if you dont have such, nor the money, you can install many linux to a USB thumbdrive and boot from that. It wont be quite as fast or reliable as true SSD but it will work, probably good to clone a backup, just in case. Also know if you dont want internal SSD, they boot pretty good externally from USB. I couldnt boot USB on the Toughbook cause its bios doesnt support such.

    1. v1adimir said on June 14, 2019 at 1:02 am
      Reply

      Um, Firefox won’t be “a slug” if you use the gHacks user.js (now hosted on GitHub), to configure its about:config settings (their default does take some editing, as its primarily built for the Tor Browser /absolute privacy and security) and the uBlock Origin add-on (Extension), with all filters enabled – except for the last “Regions, languages” section. :)

  6. Giuseppe said on September 29, 2016 at 7:58 am
    Reply

    Also erased XP in a T43 (2GB Ram) and installed Lubuntu and it is secure and light and current and fast – and free!

  7. Giuseppe said on September 19, 2016 at 10:12 pm
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    I have a couple very old Thinkpads, 32 bit and I like them, run fine with XP and maxed at 2GB RAM…..provided my malware/virus proggy stays up to date shouldn’t my Firefox and out-of-date Chrome be safe?

  8. foobar said on March 21, 2016 at 1:26 pm
    Reply

    Still using XP SP3 with PAE patch as barebone OS for hypervisor. Light and blazing fast!

    1. Livindapast said on August 10, 2016 at 9:11 pm
      Reply

      There is nothing wrong with Windows XP and don’t forget, one big mistake Microsoft made was to not provide an upgrade from XP to Windows 7 etc. thus stranding many.

  9. Lorenzo said on February 21, 2016 at 8:02 am
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    Didn’t a Chinese company buy-out Opera, or is it still in the works……….?

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on February 21, 2016 at 8:33 am
      Reply

      Not finalized yet but it seems very likely.

  10. S2015 said on February 18, 2016 at 10:43 pm
    Reply

    1. One can consider using some old yet stable/classic version of Opera (@ oldversion.com ) if you can’t address issues about the one you’re using. Performing a clean install of Opera is kindly recommended. Video guide@ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6y8suQ4D18
    2. Personally, Vista is really yet another worst OS failures of all time. I haven’t used Vista ever.
    As for XP, I was a fan of it too. YET, my new machine forced me to abandon XP.

    1. A41202813GMAIL said on February 20, 2016 at 2:09 am
      Reply

      If You Had Bought A Motherboard With Lots Of PCIEXPRESS16 Slots, No One Would Have Forced You To Abandon XP.

      Even If The New Motherboards Do Not Provide Them, Lots Of Used And New PCIEXPRESS16 Cards Still Come With XP Drivers.

      Consider That, If You Ever Need A New Machine.

      Buying Customized Hardware Will Let Me Use XP For Many Many Many Years.

      XPOCALYPSE FOREVER !

      1. A41202813GMAIL said on February 22, 2016 at 12:19 am
        Reply

        @hirobo2

        Cheers.

      2. hirobo2 said on February 21, 2016 at 12:54 am
        Reply

        Yup. Planning to use XP for a long time still. I’m typing this on Opera 12.18/XP.

  11. Terr Hollett said on February 18, 2016 at 5:32 pm
    Reply

    Keep in mind a number of people don’t upgrade because they can’t afford to. For a long time I’ve been in that boat myself. Still am.

    1. Sue L said on December 4, 2016 at 8:38 pm
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      Our problem as well.. When you paid over $1000 for a Vista laptop, you want to use it as long as possible! If Microsoft still supports Win Vista, then wondering why web sites with which we do business will not let us on with IE 9 or 10? Guess by :”supporting”, they only mean a few things..not all.. Bleh…

    2. Danny Cicerone said on September 29, 2016 at 1:09 am
      Reply

      Terr Hollett. Boy, after seven months i discovered your words… i feel like lost… the last version of Opera 36 stops the loads of adobe plugins on my xp just a days ago… as a result i cant play games in facebook and watch videos that uses Flash Player. And all the others are doing the same except firefox who is planning to support xp for a while… i cant afford to buy a new notebook because this one i keep doesn´t support a upgrade even to a windows 7… so Farewell my good old xp… my good old IBM think pad t42 farewell too!!! thanks for your words, at least i knew one soul “solidaria” for the poors in technology. Best regards. Danny Cicerone from Argentina…

      1. Giuseppe said on November 22, 2016 at 6:16 am
        Reply

        There is hope! I removed XP from a T42 and a T43 and replaced it with Linux Lubuntu (very low resource impact) – also put Ubuntu-Mate in one but it’s a tad heavier – gonna try Linux-mint – does all I could ask and more software added all the time – all fun and free!

      2. Sd said on November 26, 2018 at 6:35 am
        Reply

        Linux sux

    3. lolz said on February 19, 2016 at 3:46 pm
      Reply

      then try Palemoon
      palemoon.org/palemoon-atom.shtml
      Intel Atomâ„¢ and Windows XP build

      or even portable version
      palemoon.org/palemoon-portable.shtml
      scroll down to “Download Pale Moon Portable Atom/WinXP (32-bit)”

    4. Thrawn said on February 19, 2016 at 4:06 am
      Reply

      You have a few options, Terr.

      – You can continue with XP and Opera 36. Note that XP is no longer supported by Microsoft, so the fact that Opera 36 will eventually be unsupported too is probably not a big deal for you.

      – You can pay for an upgrade (and perhaps new hardware in the process). You’ve already stated that you can’t afford this, though.

      – You can move to a free operating system. This may require additional work to learn the ropes, so to speak. There are lots of people willing to help out, though. Linux Mint (http://linuxmint.com/) may be a good choice for getting started.

      The choice is yours.

      1. lolz said on February 21, 2016 at 3:13 pm
        Reply

        and where on earth 4GB RAM is considered as low level? on some lonely XorgDesktop island?

      2. Lorenzo said on February 21, 2016 at 8:00 am
        Reply

        Did someone just say Linux Mint is resource hungry? I doubt that very much. I have that one on a hp laptop with an i3 Intel chip and 4GB RAM seems to zip along just fine.

      3. lolz said on February 19, 2016 at 3:47 pm
        Reply

        Linux Mint is resource hungry

    5. Shadess said on February 18, 2016 at 8:36 pm
      Reply

      Win10 is a free upgrade.

      1. isepiq said on November 18, 2016 at 9:06 pm
        Reply

        The hardware on our XP PC will NOT work with Windows 7 or 10, even when ‘FREE’. We are stuck OS and $ wise. Fixed income. We have NO CHOICE in this matter at this time.

      2. Valrobex said on February 18, 2016 at 9:25 pm
        Reply

        @ Shadess, Yes, Win 10 is a free upgrade but is Terr Holletts’ computer Win 10 compatible? Terr stated he “can’t afford to.” Most likely, that also includes not being able to afford a new pc.

  12. oz said on February 18, 2016 at 4:43 pm
    Reply

    There are plenty of WinXP machines out there that are still fulfilling the needs of many users so I hate to see app support dropped for it, but I also understand the reasons developers want to move away from supporting it when the time is right, because they can’t support WinXP forever. Still, I’m betting that Opera users on WinXP will be able to find an alternate browser for XP if they really want to continue using the older OS.

    1. anon said on February 18, 2016 at 8:09 pm
      Reply

      No one should have to pander to people stuck in the past (i.e., Windows XP users). It’s their job to tell people why they should be supported, not the other way around.

  13. beerpatzer said on February 18, 2016 at 5:06 am
    Reply

    I don’t trust Opera… When I installed it, it seemed to have automatically known all my logins from Firefox… Wasn’t that stuff encrypted???

    1. jr said on February 18, 2016 at 2:52 pm
      Reply

      It’s encrypted if you are using a master password in Firefox.

  14. mikef90000 said on February 18, 2016 at 4:17 am
    Reply

    Not a big problem.
    I still run Win2K in a guest VM for a few applications. It is almost impossible to find a browser that works under Win2K, so I download updates from the host o/s and put them on a shared partition.
    Unless some other vulnerability or sophisticated malware comes along, I figure it’s as secure as it has ever been :-).

    1. Mark Lloyd said on July 8, 2016 at 1:42 am
      Reply

      Firefox 12 works on W2K.

  15. GoogleNewIE said on February 18, 2016 at 1:57 am
    Reply

    Well this just proves thay they are solely dependent/is under the finger of Google on whatever direction they want to do with the browser. They pretty much don’t have the power/self reliance since they are just using Google’s Chrome/Blink Engine and just reskinned and slapped the name Opera and same goes with that reskinned Vivaldi. Good thing Firefox/its fork still provide compatability maybe a few years more and I don’t use Chrome based browsers anyway on my latest pc/laptop and mostlikely never will on my 5 or more year old hardwares that still work to this day.

    1. Freddie said on November 21, 2016 at 1:57 pm
      Reply

      AMEN!!! If it not broken, why fix it.

  16. Flyer said on February 18, 2016 at 1:10 am
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    If you see no reason, that really means it has to be ok. :D
    This “extremely old” system as XP still use more then 11% of people (based on https://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10&qpcustomd=0).
    If you don’t use something it doesn’t mean other people also have to drop it.

    1. Phil said on February 18, 2016 at 9:06 am
      Reply

      It’s mainly ATM’s and some governments (which I doubt they’ll use Opera). That number will only decrease, whereas the others will increase

      1. justakiwi said on February 19, 2016 at 2:02 am
        Reply

        here in New Zealand, the Whanganui District Health Board still uses XP on their network

  17. Appster said on February 17, 2016 at 10:30 pm
    Reply

    That is okay. I can’t see any reason to support an extremely old, unsupported Windows version (XP) or a Windows version with such a low market share that it counts in “Other” (Vista).
    Anyone who still uses those operating systems should really consider an upgrade. People also don’t use Mac OS X 10.1 or Ubuntu 4.10 for that matter. ;-)

    1. Dimitrios said on May 6, 2020 at 5:01 pm
      Reply

      This is wisdom from the future my friend: windows 10 proved very inferior ..so new isn’t always better. And another thing…. is it true that these old versions on the new systems are even faster.?…

    2. Wally Shaw said on March 24, 2018 at 4:07 pm
      Reply

      Why should everyone be forced to upgrade to a new computer or operating system to get the latest updates and everything! If they want you to upgrade they should offer a huge discount so seniors can affoed one! Microsoft are you listening?????????????????????????????????

    3. Yoyok said on June 20, 2016 at 4:56 pm
      Reply

      Even i can beat Windows 7 on my Dual Core Notebook with Windows XP SP3 on my Pentium 4…

    4. Tonya said on June 17, 2016 at 4:59 pm
      Reply

      I appreciate your opinion on the matter, but I am an “old school” kind of home computer geek, and all I have to say on the matter is if weren’t for my Windows XP SP 3 installation disk, I would have had to had trashed my new computer. It is still viable and still has its uses.

      1. Philip no harass said on May 5, 2019 at 5:39 am
        Reply

        What a Pr—-k ! I am on very limited income , no credit card , I can;t just buy another Laptop ,I’m beginning to hate Windows even if He gives Our , sales —money made him rich money Not just his, see like it is — Mr. Gates if you only see the world from your vantage point , well you are 1 vantage point Moron ,point and close to Zero

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