Gmail service to stop working on some computers

Tech giant Google has announced that its Gmail service will stop working on some Chrome browsers by the end of 2017. According to a blog posted by Google, it has informed that Gmail will stop working on 53 or lower version of its Chrome browser. The process of stopping Gmail for working on these versions will start from February 8 itself. This move by Google, essentially means that it’s time for Windows XP and Windows Vista users, to start worrying, as they will not be able to use the emailing feature of Google on their Chrome browser.

According to Google, the Chrome browser’s versions lower than 53 are open to security risks, mainly because Microsft had stopped the OS support for Windows XP and Vista. This means that if you are still using Chrome v53 or lower, be ready to likely get affected by attacks. Moreover, there will be no bug fixes or security patches available to you. According to Google, you will be able to continue using the Chrome browser till the end of the year, but it will be in the basic HTML version only. Google wrote on the blog, “Gmail users that are still on Windows XP and Windows Vista are the most likely to be affected because v49 was the last released version which supported those operating systems.”

Google said that Gmail users who are still on Chrome browser v53 or below will be flashed a message or banner on their screens. In the blog post, Google said, “Google does not typically announce when we discontinue support for older versions of Chrome browser because of our current supported browser policy, which states that only the most recent versions of Chrome are supported. This announcement was made given the expected impact on Windows XP and Windows Vista users and known security risks.”

It is important that users should migrate to more secure and supported systems, Google says. If you are still using the Windows XP or Vista OS, you should now upgrade to a new OS. You may also use other browsers to open your Gmail account but it would still leave it highly vulnerable to attacks.

 

(source: Financial Express)