This month, certain plug-ins will cease functioning in the Google Chrome web browser. This is a decision Google made in its development roadmap over a year ago. As Google phased out the plug-ins, there has been some workarounds, but even those workarounds will cease to function. We are aware Google Chrome is a popular browser on campus and SMU has been in conversations with the vendors of the university’s affected web applications. The suggestions based on those conversations are below.
- AdminImages.SMU (Java) – The software vendor is working on replacement; use Internet Explorer (for linking) or Firefox for now.
- Inside.SMU – Microsoft has offered no correction plans. Internet Explorer is the best method to work with Inside.SMU.
- TeamDynamix (Silverlight) – Working with vendor. Use Firefox for now.
While plugins like Java and Silverlight are two of the more popular plug-ins losing support, the change is not limited to them. Below is a sample list of some of the plugins that are affected by this change to Google Chrome:
- Java
- Silverlight
- Acrobat Reader (prior to Adobe Reader X)
- Quicktime
- Shockwave
- Windows Media Player
All web pages that use plug-ins like these will cease functioning in Chrome in September of 2015. Chrome users will see the following messages when viewing web pages using these plugins:
For those wanting more information on Google’s decision, below are links to extended discussions on the matter.
- Google announcement and timeline
- Google blog post discussion of the decision
- Google support page about blocked plug-ins
