AfterDawn: News

Google killing off support for old browsers

Starting on August 1st, Google will drop support for old browsers.

Such browsers include Internet Explorer 6 and 7, Safari 3 and Firefox 3.5 (or lower).



If you choose to not upgrade (or cannot), Google says unfortunately:

In these older browsers you may have trouble using certain features in Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, Google Docs and Google Sites, and eventually these apps may stop working entirely.

Figures from StatCounter and NetApplications seem to imply that about 17 percent of the world will need to upgrade their browsers, mainly thanks to a huge number of IE6 users in China (over 25 percent).

Venkat Panchapakesan, VP of engineering at Google, says the move is necessary for the future:

These new browsers are more than just a modern convenience, they are a necessity for what the future holds. For web applications to spring even farther ahead of traditional software, our teams need to make use of new capabilities available in modern browsers.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 4 Jun 2011 13:24

• Previous article

• Man agrees to tweet his apology 100 times in defamation case

• Next article

• Lite-On IT to start selling SSD this year

• 6 comments

• xnonsuchx

  i.e. "only new browsers allow us to do all the unnecessarily flashy things we feel like doing just for the hell of it."

  5.6.2011 02:31 #1

• patrick_

  IE6 support has been dropped over a year ago.
  
  But I'm glad. Mayor companies shouldn't support old browsers. That way, small developers don't have to worry about them neither.
  

  5.6.2011 04:20 #2

• bogwart16

  There are major compatibility issues between XP and IE8. So Google are doing an Apple and telling me I have to buy a new OS? Get stuffed.
  

  We once had a empire and it was led by an emperor then we had a kingdom which was led by a king. Now we have a country.

  11.6.2011 08:01 #3

• rbi149

  Just use Chrome. It's one hell of a lot faster than IE has ever been.

  11.6.2011 09:43 #4

• bogwart16

  It's a matter of principle. Why should I be forced into using a Google product because they can't/won't address the needs of the millions of people still using IE7?
  

  We once had a empire and it was led by an emperor then we had a kingdom which was led by a king. Now we have a country.

  11.6.2011 09:55 #5

• sweetdevin10

  it seems like i wake up and there is a new computer app. or something new and it seems like it may cost people money they cannot afford. Espcially with the way the economy is going companys should be more thoughtfull
  

  11.6.2011 10:07 #6