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Ask Slashdot: Options After Google Chrome Discontinues NPAPI Support?

Posted by timothy on from the singularity-not-yet-here dept.

An anonymous reader writes: I've been using Google Chrome almost exclusively for more than 3 years. I stopped using Mozilla Firefox because it was becoming bloated and slow, and I migrated all my bookmarks etc. to Chrome. Now Chrome plans to end NPAPI support — which means that I will not be able to access any sites that use Java, and I need this for work. I tried going back to Firefox for a couple of days but it still seems slow — starting it takes time, even the time taken to load a page seems more than Chrome. So what are my options now? Export all my bookmarks and go back to Mozilla Firefox and just learn to live with the performance drop? Or can I tweak Firefox performance in any way? FWIW, I am on a Windows 7 machine at work. Have a question for Slashdot's readers? Take a look at other recent questions first to see if someone else has had a similar question. And if not, ask away! The more details and context you include, the more likely your question will be selected.

2 of 208 comments (clear)

  1. Googles Answer... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    From the Chromium Blog:
    In April 2015 NPAPI support will be disabled by default in Chrome and we will unpublish extensions requiring NPAPI plugins from the Chrome Web Store. Although plugin vendors are working hard to move to alternate technologies, a small number of users still rely on plugins that haven’t completed the transition yet. We will provide an override for advanced users (via chrome://flags/#enable-npapi) and enterprises (via Enterprise Policy) to temporarily re-enable NPAPI while they wait for mission-critical plugins to make the transition.

  2. Re:I'm betting the full phase out will be delayed by fateblossom · · Score: 5, Informative

    Google announced in September 2013 that it would phase out NPAPI support in Chrome during 2014.
    NPAPI support is disabled by default since April 2015 (version 42) for Windows and OS X, but can be turned on in the settings.
    Google plans to drop Chrome NPAPI support from all platforms in September 2015.

    I wont call 2 years warning aggressive. I would call it more then a fair warning.
    And if web-apps or plug-in's are not up to modern standards by now. Then extending to time they have to fix it wont help. Because the only things that's not updated by now wont be as long as they do not have to.
    Now they are being forced to do it. And it comes as a chock for some that they only got 2 years warning.