14 DAY TRIAL // Windows XP support was ended in April 2014, but even though Microsoft has no longer released any other updates and patches for its ancient OS, other companies, including Google, have continued to improve their software and features for XP users.
Google is one of the companies that are still offering support for their Windows XP apps, and today the it has announced an extension to a previous plan concerning Google Chrome.
Google’s browser will continue to be updated for Windows XP until the end of the year, the Mountain View-based search giant has said in a statement today, explaining that the current market share of the operating system shows that people need more time to upgrade.
A few more months of updates
Previously, Google planned to offer Windows XP support until April 2015, but the company now says that, with so many users still on this OS version, it’s pretty clear that they need a secure alternative to the non-supported-anymore Internet Explorer 6 to 8.
“Millions of people are still working on XP computers every day. We want those people to have the option to use a browser that’s up-to-date and as safe as possible on an unsupported operating system. We previously announced that we’d keep supporting Chrome on Windows XP through ‘at least’ April 2015. It’s April 2015 now, and we’re extending that commitment,” Google explains.
“We will continue to provide regular updates and security patches to Chrome on XP through the end of 2015.”
Google Chrome is right now your best option when it comes to browsers for Windows XP, as old versions of Internet Explorer that could run on this OS version are no longer getting updates.
Microsoft is focusing exclusively on modern versions of IE, including 10 and 11, but the company will soon also release a new browser and thus give up on Internet Explorer for good.
Windows XP still has a market share of around 18 percent, according to third-party data, so there’s no doubt that this is the right moment for Google to become sympathetic to users who are yet to upgrade.