So, another one from Google in the recent “we’re better than you” spat between them and Microsoft…
Google have chosen to drop support for the Netscape Plugin Application Programming Interface (NPAPI) for their web browser, Chrome. So what…
Well, that means that anything running on Microsoft web application environment, Silverlight will not work. In my world, that is the excellent flight planning software; Sky Demon Light (http://www.skydemonlight.com). For others that will be Sky Go and a bunch of other stuff you weren’t aware of.
To be fair to Google, Netscape died a long time ago, and the fact that we are still running with API’s like this is interesting to say the least. What I find particularly interesting is that we are months away from Windows 10 and the introduction of Project Spartan – the new web browser from Redmond. This new web browser has all of the legacy stuff removed from it and is designed for “future web” rather than carrying the “old web”. I expect this browser won’t carry any NPAPI code. But I do expect it to run SIlverlight – perhaps it won’t… Only time will tell. The irritation is that Google has started removing the accessibility to “old code” before there is a replacement. And that’s just petty!!
So, what am I doing – I’ve moved to Opera!
I have been flirting with Opera for years. She’s been around for as long as I can remember – in fact, I think Netscape 3.0 was still around, though I may be wrong. But now, with this petty spat affecting my productivity, it is time to try it out in anger. So far so good. Nothing has failed to work yet. I am running my on-line accounts software, banking, flight planning, Google docs and general browsing today…
Go check out www.opera.com and see what you think…
Oh, and is anybody else as concerned as me that the installation software can grab everything from your other browser details and histories? Usernames and passwords… I’m sure it’s all fine. Isn’t it!