Google to cancel support for IE7, Safari 3, and Firefox 3.5 in August

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13639875

Those using IE7, Safari 3, Firefox 3.5 and their predecessors to view Gmail, Google Calendar, Talk, Docs and Sites will then lose some functions.

Eventually, it warned, these web services will stop working for those sticking with older browsers.

The move is part of a trend to stop the use of ageing browsers which can be insecure and not sophisticated enough to handle the latest web technologies.
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Statistics on browser versions gathered by StatCounter suggest about 17% need to change in the light of Google's decision.

Google made its announcement in a blogpost saying its engineers were keen to make use of the latest capabilities in browsers, and that required support for HTML5 technology.

As a result, from 1 August, Google will only support what it calls "modern browsers". By this it means the latest versions and major prior releases of Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari.

As new versions of these are released, Google will get its web services working with that and then drop support for the third-oldest version.

Support in this sense means that Google will only do compatibility testing with more up-to-date browsers. It will not carry out tests with older programmes and can make no guarantees that web services will work with them.

Concluding the blogpost, Venkat Panchapakesan, vice president of engineering at Google, wrote: "These new browsers are more than just a modern convenience, they are a necessity for what the future holds."

In mid-May, Mozilla, which oversees development of Firefox, kicked off a plan to get the 12 million or so people using version 3.5 of its browser to update.

It said it was "frustrated" with efforts to get people to upgrade and had taken a series of steps to force change.

It used pop-up screens, adverts, re-directs and updates to steer people towards more recent versions of Firefox.

Figures gathered by Mozilla suggest the campaign has had some success as the number of users on Firefox 3.5 has now dropped to about one million.

Microsoft's campaign to stop people using Internet Explorer 6 is one of the longest running upgrade efforts.

The software giant has used its automatic update system to get newer versions of its browser out to many users.

However, many companies prefer not to use this system and that has meant IE6 clinging on in some firms and nations.

Globally about 11% of browsers are IE6, suggest figures compiled by Microsoft, and there is a wide variation around the world.

About 34% of Chinese net users are on IE6, as are 22.3% of South Koreans and 11.6% of Vietnamese people.

Also, 34% of people on IE6 in China . . . seriously?
 

Leros

Lifer
Jul 11, 2004
21,867
7
81
I see no problem dropping IE7 since IE8 has been around forever and is supported on XP. It seems premature to drop Firefox 3.5, since 4 just came out (but I haven't kept up with Firefox, so I don't remember what is out).
 

JJChicken

Diamond Member
Apr 9, 2007
6,165
16
81
You lazy to update?

This is just another example of Google trying to push its own agenda. In this case, the hidden agenda is get users of said IE7, Safari 3 and Firefox 3.5 to get annoyed by the lack of google support, and **possibly** (although most won't) change to Google Chrome.
 

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
This is just another example of Google trying to push its own agenda. In this case, the hidden agenda is get users of said IE7, Safari 3 and Firefox 3.5 to get annoyed by the lack of google support, and **possibly** (although most won't) change to Google Chrome.

Because the 2 minutes it'll take to download and install Firefox 3.6.x or 4.x is too much effort?
 

Alone

Diamond Member
Nov 19, 2006
7,490
0
0
This is just another example of Google trying to push its own agenda. In this case, the hidden agenda is get users of said IE7, Safari 3 and Firefox 3.5 to get annoyed by the lack of google support, and **possibly** (although most won't) change to Google Chrome.

That makes no sense.

They're supporting the latest stable versions of all common browsers. I don't see a problem with that. It makes it easier for them to develop for those browsers. It also makes their security job easier, whereas we only have to hit "check for updates".
 

Imp

Lifer
Feb 8, 2000
18,828
184
106
Boo ya, my work is still stick on IE6 cause they have so many in-house online programs. Glad they let us install firefox.
 

PieIsAwesome

Diamond Member
Feb 11, 2007
4,054
1
0
This is just another example of Google trying to push its own agenda. In this case, the hidden agenda is get users of said IE7, Safari 3 and Firefox 3.5 to get annoyed by the lack of google support, and **possibly** (although most won't) change to Google Chrome.

62161d1303729635-reptilian-royals-tin-foil-hat-jpg
 

txrandom

Diamond Member
Aug 15, 2004
3,773
0
71
I'm glad they're doing this. Makes it so much easier to design web pages when you don't have to worry about supporting IE6 and IE7.
 

Perknose

Forum Director & Omnipotent Overlord
Forum Director
Oct 9, 1999
46,616
10,027
146
Google is the stern and aloof but fair father you all have secretly wished for.
 

SparkyJJO

Lifer
May 16, 2002
13,357
7
81
What firefox users are still using 3.5?

I can see not going to 4 yet (I haven't on my main PC as my work PC has had some weird glitches with it, though none with it on my laptop) but 3.6 is supported and 99.9% the same as 3.5 as far as appearance and usage.
 

xanis

Lifer
Sep 11, 2005
17,571
8
0
Good. I'm glad to see that someone is finally taking a stand against old, outdated browser software. There's really no excuse for not doing basic updating. Skipping a version here and there is fine, but doing it to the point where your software is outdated is stupid.
 

TridenT

Lifer
Sep 4, 2006
16,800
45
91
I'm on Firefox 3.6, so no worries...

I'm not wanting to update to FF 4... Fucking do not dig that interface. (Chrome much?)
 

CurseTheSky

Diamond Member
Oct 21, 2006
5,401
2
0
As a web developer / programmer, I applaud them. You guys have no idea how utterly annoying it is to code a website with several goals and technological advances in mind, only to find out that some part of it doesn't work in IE 7, or FF 2, or something like that, and that browser still represents a decent chunk of the market.

It wouldn't be a big deal if it was only minor stuff, but I've had numerous cases where all browsers worked fine, except for IE 6 or IE 7, which parses CSS or Javascript differently from everyone else. That isn't to say that IE is the only offender, but it's generally the most problematic in my experiences.

After a period of going out of our minds trying to please everyone (compatibility vs. features), we officially dropped support for IE 6 and FF 1 about a year or two ago, and adopted an "update your browser for crying out loud" stance. I'm thinking we'll probably follow suit with IE 7 and FF 2 by the end of the year.
 
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