In 2009, Google launched the Chrome Frame plug-in for older versions of Internet Explorer. The idea was that users of IE would be able to access Chrome's WebKit-based browser engine so they could use features that the older versions of IE could not support.
The plug-in supported IE 6, 7, and 8 at first and later Google added support for IE 9 as well. Microsoft didn't care for Chrome Frame, stating around the time of its launch that it increased the risks for malware and security issues for IE users that installed the plug-in.
This week, Google announced that it was going to retire Chrome Frame. In a post on its Chromium blog, the company stated its reasons:
Today, most people are using modern browsers that support the majority of the latest web technologies. Better yet, the usage of legacy browsers is declining significantly and newer browsers stay up to date automatically, which means the leading edge has become mainstream.
Google will stop all updates and official support for Chrome Frame sometime in January 2014, but did not give a specific date for its shutdown. Of course, Google says that individuals and businesses should consider using its own Chrome browser for their needs, even if they need to run older applications.
Source: Google | image via Google
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