Supermium_ Chrome browser clone, also for Windows 7

[German]Today a little hint for people who are still using Windows 7 SP1 or Windows Server 2008 / R2. The Chrome browser (and Edge) are no longer supported there in the new builds, but remain stuck on version 109 of the Chromium browser. But Bolko had some time ago pointed to the Supermium project, a Chrome clone, which is pulled along with current Chromium builds and also still runs under Windows 7 (arrow fast).

Browser support for Windows 7 is fading away …

Google has ended support for its Chromium browser for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 as well as the server counterparts in January 2023 with version 109. I had pointed out this in the blog post Windows 7/8.1: Google ends support in February 2023, Edge also affected. This means that all Chromium-based browsers, such as Microsoft Edge, will eventually be discontinued for these operating systems. Only for Windows Server 2012 R2, Microsoft and Google have promised to provide security update for the Google Chrome / Edge 109. And there is still Firefox, whose developers still want to support the browser on Windows 7 until Q3 2024 (see Windows 7/8.1: Firefox will be support until 3. Q. 2024 at least).

Supermium browser also for Windows 7

German blog reader Bolko had already posted a hint a few weeks ago about the Supermium project, which made Chrome work on Windows 7 as well (thanks for the hint). Since I delete the entries in the discussion area of my German blog sporadically, I'll pull out his (translated) hint once:

Tip: Supermium is a new browser fork based on the ungoogled Chromium.

Benefit: Even version 115.0.5760.0 runs on Windows 7.
In the current R2 fix, the sandbox works properly again.

Normally, the 109.0.5414.120 would be the last version of the Chromium derivatives that is still compatible with Windows 7.

But Shane Fournier (aka win32ss) has now managed to work around the artificial and apparently unnecessary limitations Google built into the browser to make it work with Win7 again.

Tested and it's working!

Windows 7 just can't be killed and is better than Win10 anyway.

Windows 7 forever!

So far I had used the ungoogled Chromium from Marmaduke (aka Macchrome), but that is now replaced by Supermium.

The tip is not lost, since I also use the Ungoogled browser, the whole thing interested me of course. I just haven't had time to look into it in more detail yet.

The Supermium Project

Shane Fournier has set up the Supermium Browser project on Github under win32ss/supermium and offers the installers for Windows (32/64 bit), as well as the source codes for download there. The following highlights are given for the current version 117.0.5874.0.

• x64 memory issues are corrected; memory usage should generally be lower than other Windows 7-compatible Chromium browsers above version 110
• x86 sandbox is fixed; x86 download issues are fixed
• Theming inconsistencies are corrected; Aero Glass now appears with custom themes while custom themes are now workable with the "XP-style" theme
• Widevine CDM support (not bundled with browser binaries but downloaded when needed) is now available; works with sites such as Bell Fibe TV but may not work with sites like Netflix, which seem to block non-oligopolic browsers (so nothing outside of the Firefox/Chrome/Safari/Edge grouping seems to work – UA-CH spoofer will be introduced in future to deal with these unfair blocks, and possibly other measures if necessary)
• User agent client hints are updated to return values for Windows 2000 and up; the values for 2000-Vista are outside of the scope of official documentation because it did not account for those versions of Windows

Sounds really good, especially since the browser is based on the code of the Ungoogled – Chromium project and takes current developments into account.

A short test

First of all, I tried to install the mentioned browser under Windows 10 V1909. And afterwards I booted my Windows 7 SP1 copy in a virtual machine and installed the browser there as well. On both machines I have set up the 64-bit installation via the mini_installer_64.exe.

Which is a bit unusual: After double-clicking the almost 77 MByte installer, no prompt appears asking whether the browser is installed. The installer unpacks the required files into the user profile under:

C:\Users\[Name]\AppData\Local\Supermium\Application

and then creates a shortcut in Start menu and Desktop. After that, the browser window is opened and the user can work with the program. The following screenshot shows the browser under Windows 7.

After a short test, I can only say that the browser starts extremely fast and also works under Windows 7. In the screenshot above, the bookmarks I exported from the Ungoogled browser can be seen under the address bar. What I liked (compared to Ungoogled) is the fact that Google is already preconfigured as a search engine. With Ungoogled, I have to manually tighten this, which is always an act with the portable edition.

An uninstall entry for the program can be found in the Control Panel or in the Windows 10 settings to uninstall the browser. The only downer from my point of view is the fact that the browser is installed in the user profile. This gives the user full access with all rights, i.e. a malware running under a user account could easily exchange the browser files.