Supermium

Supermium is Chromium for the versions of Windows Google left behind. Chrome stopped updating on Windows XP and Vista in 2016 and on Windows 7 and 8.1 in early 2023; months later, the Canadian developer Shane Fournier started Supermium to keep a current Chromium running on all of them, from XP up to Windows 11. It is free, open source and funded by donations.

It has since grown into more than a compatibility fix. Supermium keeps Manifest V2, the older extension format Chrome has dropped, so the full uBlock Origin still runs, and everything else installs from the Chrome Web Store as usual. It also brings back looks Chrome retired years ago, such as the old tab shapes and Aero Glass title bars. Google Sync still works, and the project says it sends no telemetry to its developer.

The trade-offs are about upkeep and the system underneath. Supermium runs several Chromium versions behind Chrome, and its security fixes depend on one developer rather than Google's release process. Nothing updates automatically, and Netflix usually refuses to play. A current browser also cannot fix an old operating system: XP and Windows 7 have had no security patches for years. If you need to keep an old PC online, or want Manifest V2 and the classic Chrome look on Windows 10 or 11, Supermium is the answer; if you only want strong ad blocking on a supported system, Helium or Brave asks far less of you.