File this under “Not Shocked” but it is official: Google is ending support of Chrome for Windows XP, Windows Vista and a handful of older Mac OS X versions. The news came on the Chrome blog earlier today that starting in April 2016, they will no longer be updating and officially supporting these legacy OS’.
The news comes largely due to Apple and Microsoft not supporting these older versions themselves so Google is more-or-less following suit.
Starting in April of next year, if you are running Windows XP, Windows Vista, Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7 or 10.8, the browser
Google Chrome
will not be supported. That doesn’t mean you can’t run it on them – you can keep doing that just as you do today. However, Google will no longer be updating these versions with the latest security and bug fixes.
Today, we’re announcing the end of Chrome’s support for Windows XP, as well as Windows Vista, and Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7, and 10.8, since these platforms are no longer actively supported by Microsoft and Apple. Starting April 2016, Chrome will continue to function on these platforms but will no longer receive updates and security fixes.
Google encourages users to update their Operating System to a more contemporary version – and I certainly second that motion! If you are using one of these older platforms (and based on stats for the site I know some of you do!) you are at very high risk for security and other breaches that these older platforms simply didn’t know existed. Do yourself and your identity a favor and update. Worry about your browser support later. 🙂
