Google Apps Giving Older Browsers the Boot

Google announced Wednesday that it will start phasing out Google Apps support for older browsers in favor of more modern options.

Starting August 1, Google Apps will only support the current and prior major release of Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari on a rolling basis.

Advanced Google Apps services, such as desktop notifications for Gmail and drag-and-drop file upload in Google Docs, require advanced browsers that support HTML5. "Older browsers just don't have the chops to provide you with the same high-quality experience," Google's vice president of engineering, Venkat Panchapakesan, said in a blog post.

As a result, come August 1, Google Apps will no longer provide support for Firefox 3.5, IE7, Safari 3, or previous versions of those browsers. At first, on these browsers, Google features like Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, and Google Docs may not work properly, but eventually they may completely stop functioning.

When a new browser version is released, Google will start support for that updated version and stop support for the third-oldest version. "As the world moves more to the Web, these new browsers are more than just a modern convenience, they are a necessity for what the future holds," Panchapakesan wrote.
At the All Things Digital conference this week, Google's Eric Schmidt acknowledged that "eventually most development will be HTML5, but eventually is many years from now."

Google, along with Apple, is betting big on HTML5. Last August, Google Web developers even helped the alt-rock band Arcade Fire create the first HTML5-powered music video, using HTML5 optimized for Google Chrome. In November, Google also published an illustrated HTML5 Web book tilted 20 Things I Learned about Browsers and the Web. On Thursday, the search giant announced that that the guide is now available in 15 languages and is open-sourced.

In an effort to get IE users to upgrade to more current versions of the browser, Microsoft in March launched a death watch of sorts for IE6 via ie6countdown.com. The site will keep tabs on the dwindling use of the now decade-old IE6. "It's time to say goodbye," reads a message on the site. Last month, Mozilla also announced plans to automatically update users from Firefox 3.5 to 3.6.