Rufus 4.0 drops Windows 7 support

[harlan4096]

The developer of Rufus, a free Windows application to create bootable USB drives, has released Rufus 4.0 to the public. The new version of the application drops support for Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system. Rufus 4.0 requires Windows 8 or newer versions of Windows to run.
 
The developer notes that some users may run into updating troubles because of that. Windows 7 users may stay on Rufus 3.22, as it will continue to work.

Rufus runs a daily update check by default, which users may turn off under Settings > Check for Updates. Adventurous users may include beta updates as well in the checks there.

Rufus 4.0
 


Rufus 4.0 is a 64-bit application by default now, which is the second change regarding compatibility. Users may also download a portable version of Rufus if they prefer to use the application without installation.

The latest release is a bug fix release otherwise. The official release notes on GitHub lists the following fixes:

• Fix persistent partition not working with Ubuntu 23.04 (#2231)
  
• Fix out of range pointer error with Ubuntu 23.04 when booting in BIOS mode (#2233)
  
• Fix boot freeze with Ubuntu Studio when Secure Boot is enabled (#2210)
  
• Fix incorrect architecture detection when checking for updates
  
• Fix a Windows Store application crash when processing GRUB bootloaders
  
• Fix a Windows Store application crash when enumerating processes that contain a % sign
  
• Fix a Windows Store application crash when using German localization
  

Rufus is a useful tool to create bootable media, e.g., to create bootable Windows installation media, installation media for Linux, and for other purposes. It is a popular option to create Windows media, as it can download Windows ISO images from within the interface and prepare Windows 11 images to bypass system requirements.

Windows 7 users may check out Ventoy, an application offering similar functionality, as it is still compatible with the operating system.

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