Brave web browser versions

vanity

[ma_che62]

I know...I know...I NEEEEED to update my operating system...but assume I cannot for the sake of this posting.

Do you guys happen to know the latest most up to date Windows 7 version of the web browser Brave?

We are currently using Version 1.47.186.

Thank you!!!

[Pythion.net]

"Please DO NOT use Windows 7 for web browsing or other internet activities, even with Brave."

Retired IT director here...
Windows 7 is the last version of Windows that I trust. I simply do not trust any version after that. Long story short, after my experiences evaluating the upgrade to Windows 10 for the company (I oversaw all the upgrades in Windows starting with Window95.) I decided that the day we had to upgrade to Win10 was the day I would retire.

It was the trust issue, and because I was responsible for fixing things if Windows one day just decided not to work the same as it did the day before and critical software became unusable (yes that actually happened during the evaluation). That could shut the company down indefinitely while we tried to find a fix. That's the kind of thing that I had nightmares about. Fortunately for me, I retired before that day came. But I still had those nightmares for over ten years after I retired.

Every time I have to help my wife with problems with her laptop, I am reminded of why I still use 7. I did try Win10 on my laptop for a while (nothing critical on there) but went to Linux Mint after getting exasperated once too often. All the other machines, including my laptop are running Linux Mint, but on my main workstation, I have too much software that requires Windows and doesn't run well in a virtual machine. If I have to I'll run Linux Mint in a VirtualBox window and run Brave on that. (It's set up already)

Windows 10/11 is a hard HELL NO! and if pushed on the issue my language will get MUCH more "salty."

[PAR35]

Brave is so upset that I won’t upgrade from Win7 on this computer that they refuse to show me ads.

I figure at this point there is no point in upgrading to Win10.

And like another poster said, I only have one of my 4 computers that will run Win11 (although I know I can get software from a Russian hacker that will let me run it on one non-conforming laptop.

[steve86]

What is the point of posting the latest version to the OP. It doesn’t run on W7 (and Brave has done a really thorough job of removing old versions from the web).

[steve86]

I have the same situation. My security camera network server is a laptop with Windows 7 and I have no plans to upgrade the hardware. Fortunately, it already has a Windows 7 version of Brave from way back (2.47.186).

[steve86]

S/B 1.47.186

[steve86]

I see we are using the same version.

[ducttape45]

I know a lot of people very strongly advise to never use Windows 7 for online activity of any sort.

Here's my take.

1. Let's face it; Windows XP and 7 were, and are, the best operating systems Microsoft put out. They were stable and easy to use. They also gave the user control over their PC's, instead of the other way around with MicroThief now having control via Windows 8, 10, 11 and soon to be 12.

Yes, W7 no longers get any kind of support from M/T, but W7 is still the easiest O/S to use bar none. And there are still companies that make internet security software for it.

So if someone has said software, and they as long as they aren't on sites that indulge in porn, gambling and other high risk activities, I think it can be relatively safe. I still use W7 for certain online activities, such as FR for instance.

2. Many users, like myself, still have older hardware that we use on a daily basis which can only support W7 and 10 (and Linux of course). My PC's are Intel Generation 1 and G5/6. My G5/6 can run W10 efficiently enough, but the G1 system cannot though I use a scaled down install of W10 on each of them (all my systems are dual boot). In many cases, I find it easier to use W7. I think others feel the same way, and many are not tech savy to the point where they can use a Linux O/S.

Now factor in Windows 11 and soon, 12. There's no way our old hardware can, or will, be able to handle either of them. What are we to do?

There are no easy answers, but if we can use even older versions of browsers like Brave, then that's what we have to go with.

[newfreep]

FWIW...

My Win11 Brave version:

Brave is up to date
Version 1.73.89 Chromium: 131.0.6778.69 (Official Build) (64-bit)

[dayglored]

> Retired IT director here...

Greetings, FRiend and colleague. Full-time IT/DevOps/Eng here (72, apparently haven't hit my "Use-By" date quite yet).

I totally understand your attachment to Win7. As I've commented before on FR, Win7 has been my favorite release of Windows since it came out. To this day, I have a Win7 virtual machine running in VMware Fusion on my home MacOS desktop, and I use it for a number of non-internet Windows-only applications, including some that don't run on later releases. Fortunately they run well enough in the VM that I'm not annoyed. The local network is configured to avoid accidental connection to the internet from the Win7 VM.

I distrust Win10 intensely, and I distrust Win11 even more, despite my job requiring me to work with them every day and help users who are having problems with them. But I do not and will not use them at home. We will not mention the releases between 7 and 10, They Which Shall Not Be Named.

For web browsing and other internet activities I use Apple products (MacOS w/Fusion for VMs, iPhone, iPad), and Ubuntu Linux, either in a VM or on the metal.

If there's a website that only works properly with a Windows-only browser (Edge), well they just don't get my clicks. F'em, you should excuse the expression.

So for someone like you or me, an IT professional who is deeply aware of the dangers of conducting web activities with an insecure (unpatchable) operating system, I'm not going to judge. I assume you, like me, are very careful, stay away from dodgy websites, hover over all those links before you click to see the real URL, etc. etc. My bold recommendation to not use Win7 for browsing is intended for the 99.9% of users who do NOT take the high, nay extreme, level of care, caution, and outright suspicion that mark the IT professional.

What you describe, using Linux Mint, sounds very familiar of course, Mint being a sibling of Ubuntu. I commend your choices and decisions; I am doing largely the same. :-)

Incidentally, as you noticed, I run the FR Windows Ping List. Many years ago I saw that ShadowAce had a "Tech List" that was primarily Linux/FOSS, and Swordmaker had an Apple/Mac list, but there was no Windows list. That seemed odd and unfair, since the majority of FR members used Windows. So I started the Windows list even though I'm not primarily a Windows user these days. Just a bit of history in case you were curious.

Best FRegards,
Dayglored

[dayglored]

> Here's my take.

I'll direct your attention to my lengthy comment #29 above, which was in answer to Pythion.net. I need not type it all over again. :-)

> Windows XP and 7 were, and are, the best operating systems Microsoft put out.

I'll agree wrt Win7. IMO, Win-XP was still too raw, it needed a lot more cooking before it was ready for prime time.

> Many users, like myself, still have older hardware...

Apple is a hardware vendor; their OS software is "free" but you are supposed to only run it on their hardware. So if you run MacOS you find that after a few releases, the latest OS won't run on your old hardware and you have to buy new hardware, from Apple of course. No dummies, they.

Microsoft is a software vendor, but they need to keep the hardware vendors in their bed happy, so they make sure that each Windows release runs poorer on old hardware, eventually it won't run at all, and if all else fails, they put instructions into Windows that check for the CPU version or the existence of a TPM module, and the user is screwed if they don't buy new hardware. No dummies, they either.

So I buy new Mac hardware when I absolutely have to, and I don't run the newer versions of Windows. But I run my old Win7 in a protected VM which doesn't go out on the internet. I use the Mac or Linux for that.

The rest is explained in my earlier comment. :-)

[ducttape45]

Very nice. Thank you for sharing your expertise here on FR.

I was the IT manager in my duty section at my last job working on a military base. To say I made a lot of enemies is an understatement.

I contested the way the government is going these days in regards to their IT equipment (thin clients vs physical desktops and laptops). I argued that cloud based technology (in the government sector) is inherently dangerous and problematic, again, something they didn't like.

But my point was proven when, in the hours after we were all told the network couldn't possibly go down, it did, and for an entire week! I worked for a flying squadron so the entire mission was disrupted because of the outage. It's a good thing I advised folks to back up their important files on their laptops which saved us a lot of headaches, but still, it was rough.

But when it came to the operating systems, the change over to W10 from W7 was a nightmare. Everything changed; the log on procedures, control over even the simplest things like the screen saver was gone, and it was easier for the powers at be to disable your PC.

Then they made Outlook cloud based with the introduction of Office 2013 and email storage became a nightmare. Folks were constantly deleting old emails when the system said they reached the limit of the online storage, little realizing they could just store their emails on their hard drives in PST files. Newer versions of Office became increasingly hard to use, and Windows 10, by the time the government added all their (so-called) security software became almost totally unusable. It wasn't until we migrated to SSDs that things became manageable again but honest to God, many people I worked with retired, and a big reason why they did was because of how difficult the IT infrastructure had become.

All that to say, I found ways around their machinations and I made life easier for the folks I worked for. They were appreciative of my efforts though the local powers at be wanted to strangle me for being, in their view, pigheaded.

As for me, here and now, I have my W7/10 machines, but I will eventually migrate almost completely over to a Linux O/S once I get to the point in life where I don't need Microsoft software much anymore. I'm almost there.

I use Thunderbird for my email and I got it configured to download email from the Google pop server. When I migrate to Linux I'll do the same thing. I also use LibreOffice and will of course use that on Linux as well. I still have my M/S Officesuites (2010, 2016 & 2019) because of tasks I am currently engaged in but I want to completely migrate away from them as well in the near future.

I will keep my W7 install because I like to use older versions of Photoshop (CS5) and Adobe Acrobat (10), but that will be about it. Eventually I hope to learn how to use GIMP and MasterPDF more efficiently.

Whew. That took a while to type out! Thank you again for sharing your knowledge with us. It is much appreciated!

P.S. Apologies for any typos you might, and probably will, find above!

[Carriage Hill]

BKMRK.

[linMcHlp]

Brave Browser (Windows OS) Version 1.47.186, was the last version that supports Windows 7.

The next Brave Browser (Windows OS) version, was 1.48.158:

https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/tag/v1.48.158

Meanwhile, if you continue to run Brave Browser (Windows OS) Version 1.47.186, there are some background updating of Brave Browser components, that continues. But over time, Brave Browser will lose performance.

[Bob434]

Need some advice- I have windows 7 registered now, but use Linux as main os- I o ky use 7 for windows apps like photoshop, rebelle, iracing and a few other programs- I only go online really to the iracing site in windows 7, and maybe check fr for posts- bUT never browse the net using 7-

My question is thus: wi5h the advances of programs using ai, and not able to run on older platforms like windows 7, would it be wise to buy a windows 11 computer (I think a windows 10 computer is out of the question as 10 will lose support or cost to support for a couple of years),

OR might it be wiser to buy an apple computer (as the programs I use in windows 7 have apple versions as well), and avoid the onerous spying, difficult to control windows 11 and future versions which I am sure will cripple user control further, and cause more need to buy new computer and peripherals (windows 11 can’t use things like older printers, and other peripherals, so would have to upgrade those as well and then who knows, upgrade again once a new version of windows comes out in the next few years? Seems like windows is in cahoots with peripherals makers, forcing the users to wither stay with outdated windows version, or upgrade everything, even their computer to keep running new windows versions?)

I van stay with windows 7 and the apps I have, but again, more and more apps are now requiring a min of windows 10 to run. I also won’t be able to take advantage of the new ai stuff in things like OnOne, which is an awesome photo suite which has capability of selecting specific subjects like humans, animals, sky, land, buildings, or whatever automatically with awesome selections so that you can adjust just the selected subjects independent from the rest of the photo if needed- I’m sure though that apple would work as well but not sure which path to take at this point. I don’t really need the new tech in the programs, but it sure would be nice, but I’m thinking it just an expensive luxury as I would need to buy new comp and peripherals just to have that tech.

[Bob434]

Meant to ping all to above post (I think I just have to put “All” in the ping bar?)

[Bob434]

[[ I will keep my W7 install because I like to use older versions of Photoshop (CS5) and Adobe Acrobat (10), but that will be about it. Eventually I hope to learn how to use GIMP and MasterPDF more efficiently. ]]

That is why I keep 7 too- for cs5.5-

Gimp is just nowhere near as versatile or powerful as photoshop, plus I have a ton of custom made actions for photoshop. Gimp just can’t compare to photoshop. When I try to use it, it is so limited compared to cs5.

I will say though, I’m finding OnOne to be more and more useful for photo manipulation, and almost don’t need cs5 anymore, though cs5 is more, much more than just a photo manip app. OnOne doesn’t have the extra capabilities cs5 has.

[ducttape45]

I tried using Gimp in the past too, and like you, I discovered it wasn’t as versatile as PS CS5. I also like to use Acrobat 10 because the scanning feature is much easier to use where the newer incarnations make scanning a nightmare. However I use the newer Acrobat for signatures. That’s really about it.

[dayglored]

> I think I just have to put “All” in the ping bar?

I'm not convinced that "All" does anything, because pinging everyone on a thread is an invitation to spam. My guess is that it's a no-op, a name without an actual target list. But that's just my guess.

> Need some advice...

Option 1: Switch to Mac. If your critical programs run on MacOS or could run on Windows (e.g. 7) in a virtual machine (VM), this is practical -- it's what I have done for many years. You can reduce the "Apple tax" (the higher cost of Mac hardware) substantially by getting a refurbished Mac from Amazon (I do that). Important: you need to get older Mac hardware with an Intel x86/64 CPU, not the newer Apple CPU silicon. Put VirtualBox on it, and run Win7 in a VM (VirtualBox is free).

Option 2: Buy a Win11 computer, and either grin-and-bear it, or "downgrade" it to Win10 if you prefer Win10 to Win11. Put VirtualBox on it, and run Win7 in a VM.

Option 3: Buy a Win10 computer, being careful to select one that can, in the future, be upgraded to Win11 if you need to do so. Put VirtualBox on it, and run Win7 in a VM.

Those aren't the only options but they're what come to mind first.

[dayglored]

> I was the IT manager in my duty section at my last job working on a military base.

Another FR IT pro -- greetings!

> I have my W7/10 machines, but I will eventually migrate almost completely over to a Linux O/S once I get to the point in life where I don't need Microsoft software much anymore. I'm almost there.

Yep, life gets a lot easier. That wasn't always true in the early days of Linux, but the last few years have seen tremendous improvements in ease of use.

> I use Thunderbird for my email and I got it configured to download email from the Google pop server. When I migrate to Linux I'll do the same thing. I also use LibreOffice and will of course use that on Linux as well.

I'm always pleased to find another Thunderbird fan. I've used T'bird since it first appeared in 2003 in the wake of the demise of Netscape Mail. To me it defies explanation why T'bird isn't more prevalent, but Windows/Outlook is ubiquitous.

> Eventually I hope to learn how to use GIMP and MasterPDF more efficiently.

I've beat my head against GIMP (and PhotoShop for that matter), but not being an artist, all I need is a plain, simple image editor. I use an ancient copy of PaintShop Pro from 1996 that was released with Windows 95. It takes some tricks to get it to install on Windows 10/11 but it can be done. :-)

[ducttape45]

FR IT Pro

Yep. You know what kills me, is that I got a couple IT degrees thinking they would help me get an IT job working for Unca Sam, but right when I graduated the govn outsourced all of their IT jobs so I never actually got the title of "Computer Client Support" but I pretty much ran everything IT in my shop anyway. All that time and money wasted on a collge degree that went nowhere. Most everything I know, I know from experience, folks here on FR, Youtube and internet searches.

Pleased to find a Thunderbird fan

Yep, I've used TB for several years now. I still have Outlook but TB is my default email client. I used to use FossaMail but when it was discontinued I made the jump to TB. There are many things I can do with it, even some that the gubermint would not condone. If you want to know, I'll Freepmail you.

Gimp and MasterPDF

Yeah, Gimp, and MasterPDF, are difficult to use. That's why I keep W7 handy.

I hope to go 90/10 Linux to W7 here soon. After I finish up some things, I'm going to program up Linux and mount it. I found out the hard way that the newer Linux installs destroy the boot sector of Windows, thereby making it impossible to dual boot, so I'll have to program it up separately then mount the drive.