From f5b157abc5d833fb342ae589b7a94f0829b1676d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: ReallyRoland <123595711+rolan701@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 12 May 2026 11:15:38 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] Update README.md

updated readme to reflect we no longer support 3.8
---
 README.md | 4 ++--
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 501ec280..cc092dfc 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ To obtain the latest development version or if you plan to modify the code we re
    git clone https://github.com/hjkgrp/molSimplify.git
    cd molSimplify
    ```
-2. Create a new conda environment and specify the desired Python version (we currently recommend 3.8). You can change the environment name `molsimp` according to your preference.
+2. Create a new conda environment and specify the desired Python version (we currently recommend 3.10). You can change the environment name `molsimp` according to your preference.
 
    ```bash
    conda create --name molsimp python=3.8
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ The easiest way of installing molSimplify including optional dependencies such a
    cd molSimplify
    ```
 
-3. Create a new conda environment and specify the desired Python version (we currently recommend 3.8).
+3. Create a new conda environment and specify the desired Python version (we currently recommend 3.10 -- ***3.8 IS DEPRACATED***).
 
    ```bash
    conda create --name molsimp python=3.8

From b5ae2ca3b6661ea4a710a37887ab7af4e9ca383f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: ReallyRoland <123595711+rolan701@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 12 May 2026 11:18:21 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] Update README.md

---
 README.md | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cc092dfc..312b9a96 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ molSimplify is an open source toolkit for the automated, first-principles screen
 
 ### via pip, from PyPI
 
-Starting with version `1.7.4`, molSimplify is available on [PyPI](https://pypi.org) enabled by the [openbabel-wheel](https://pypi.org/project/openbabel-wheel/) project. It is recommended to make a new conda environment with Python 3.8, activate it, and then run the following command:
+Starting with version `1.7.4`, molSimplify is available on [PyPI](https://pypi.org) enabled by the [openbabel-wheel](https://pypi.org/project/openbabel-wheel/) project. It is recommended to make a new conda environment with Python 3.10, activate it, and then run the following command:
 
 ```bash
 pip install molSimplify