Soon, we will be forced to deprecate Wire on older, unsupported Windows versions such as Windows 7, 8, and 8.1. As Microsoft no longer supports these operating system versions, we do not recommend using these versions for security reasons, anyway.
Wire uses the Electron framework for its Desktop and Web applications for Windows environments. Our next release of the Wire apps for Windows and Web will use Electron 23, which dropped the support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 in line with the Chromium release schedule, as you can see here. Support for Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R 2 will also be removed.
Upgrading to the latest version of Electron to build the Wire app is necessary, as it fixes critical security issues. At Wire, we do not only follow best practices when it comes to cryptography but also use up-to-date frameworks to build our software.
Unfortunately, there is no available workaround other than upgrading to supported versions of Windows. Wire is available across platforms with apps for Windows 10 and 11, macOS, iOS, and Android. Wire can also be used in supported web browsers. Find all available download links here.