Google Chrome Frame is to be retired early next year, Google has announced.
The plugin, first released in 2010, enables older versions of Internet Explorer to render pages using Google Chrome’s rendering engine, allowing sites and apps built with newer web technologies to display correctly when viewed inside the legacy browser.
“We see the retirement of Chrome Frame as evidence of just how far the web has come.” – Google
Google reason that since more people are using modern browsers that natively support newer web technologies the need for a feature like Chrome Frame is reduced.
The plugin saw limited use by desktop users. It was mainly adopted by businesses and enterprise users who were ‘locked’ into using older versions of Internet Explorer.
The final update to Chrome Frame will come in January 2014. Google say this will give enough time for businesses using the plugins to transition to more modern solutions.
Chrome Frame is still available for download at the time of publishing. It requires Internet Explorer 6 through 9 on Windows XP SP2 through Windows 7.
Never heard of Chrome Frame? Here’s Google’s introduction to the feature: