MODERN WEB DEVELOPMENT IN THE WINDOWS 7 ENVIRONMENT IN 2025 ▀ PLUS SOME WIN7 RELATED RANT

UPDATED ON: 2025-03-31
Friday has been landed. We are on the edge. The bridge day.
The transformation into a blobby-hill-slacker in horizontal reclining posture has begun.

I am mentally exhausted from work, self-study and my environment and would like to do something that I am not tired of.
Luckily it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything Windows 7-related on these pages.
So it is a perfect time to do materialize such desires.
Despite what the couch “experts” say, Windows 7 continues to do quite well in today’s technology landscape.
This quick blip note describes the real state of affairs in the web development department.
First things first, code editor. Last [safe hacked VS Code version is 1.93]
.
Version 1.97 is also available [direct link]
, but have some minor problems here and there and
that is why it is not recommended for production purposes.
Second, Javascript engine. Last official version of [Node.js 18 LTS]
,
which runs without any problems and have 100% compatibility have to be released in a month or so.
Do not forget that we also have hacked versions 22.13 [direct link]
and 23.7 [direct link]
,
which are tested and proved to work quite reliably.
Web server [Apache 2.4.63]
available in the latest reincarnation.
Databases are backed with [PostgreSQL 14]
.
If you have a desire to go above PHP 7 and want to be able to run latest PHP v8.2.12 you need to [install XAMPP package]
.
Ok, and what about Git? Last official version to support Windows 7 is Git v2.46.2. Works rock solid.
If you feel adventurous you can always try experimental hacked Git v2.48.1 [direct link]
.
As for Internet browsers we have trusted Firefox fork [RedFox 135]
and speedy Chrome fork [Supermium 132]
.
Purists have ability to use officially endorsed by mozilla [Firefox 115 ESR branch]
,
which will be supported through the fall of 2025, if not beyond.
But who cares about that for anyway?
Especially in the light of the existence of the RedFox and the Supermium, i dunno.
Ah, and almost forgot, i have updated some articles:
- [Why i am using Windows 7 machine as a daily driver in 2024]
- [Windows 7 power 256 threads / 192Gb ram]
Corrected some mistakes and slapped some new versions here and there to match the reality.
Here is a neat pix that captures the essence of the Windows 7 story.

Grok3 made a prediction that 0.7nm CPUs are quite possible in ~2030 but will be astronomically expensive.
In addition, by that time, the top-of-the-line smartphone will have a CPU with performance similar to the desktop Ryzen 7950X.
Let me remind you that 0.5nm CPUs are already impossible with our current state of technology.