VeraCrypt 1.25 removes compatibility with Windows 8.1 and 7, and Mac OS 10.8 and earlier versions

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VeraCrypt 1.25, a new version of open source cross-platform encryption software, is now available. The new version is the first version of the application for more than a year; The latest version dates back to November 2020 when an urgent update was released for Mac OS X Big Sur.

VeraCrypt 1.25 is not yet listed as a download on the project’s official website, but the downloads are available on the project’s website. SourceForge project page. Note that the GitHub repository has not been updated yet either.

The new version of VeraCrypt updates any existing version that is installed on the system. The system must be rebooted after a successful installation, as the new driver must be loaded during system startup.

VeraCrypt 1.25

VeraCrypt 1.25 is a major new release that changes the system requirements significantly. The new version of the encryption software adds support for Windows on ARM64, Apple Silicon M1, and OpenBSD, but also removes support for the following operating systems:

Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows 8
Windows 8.1
Mac OS 10.7
Mac OS 10.8

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The developers reveal that the removal of support for the listed Windows versions was required due to “new requirements for driver code signing.” No reasoning was provided for removing support for Mac OS 10.7 and 10.8.

VeraCrypt 1.25 includes support for an MSI installer that administrators can use for silent mode deployments on supported Windows systems. The caveat is that the MSI installer cannot be used if the system partition is encrypted with VeraCrypt.

The Windows version of VeraCrypt has seen several other improvements. The new version prevents Windows from resizing an encrypted system partition, fixes a memory leak in the EFI boot loader, fixes a possible memory corruption in the driver, clears a bootParams variable that may contain sensitive information, and includes a Fix for an issue that occurs during Windows Feature Updates (perhaps the automatic repair issue caused by the bootloader?)

The new version of VeraCrypt for Mac OS X introduces support for Apple’s new Silicon M1 hardware, but is no longer compatible with the previous two versions of Mac OS X, Lion (10.7) and Mountain Lion (10.8). The Mac version adds user interface language support through installed XML files.

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The Linux, FreeBSD and OpenBSD versions have seen some fixes for the most part.

You can view the full changelog for VeraCrypt 1.25 here.

Closing words

VeraCrypt users running earlier versions of Windows 10 or Mac OS X 10.8 or earlier cannot upgrade to the new version. The latest release version, 1.24-Update8 for Mac OS X and 1.24-Update7 for all other supported operating systems, will continue to work.

VeraCrypt users who choose to do so may want to review the release notes for new versions to ensure that none fix critical issues, such as vulnerabilities, that could allow third parties to gain access to encrypted data.

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