With the debut on the ‘Aura’ graphical stack on Linux, Chrome/ium v34 will come without any support for Netscape plugins.Īura, which is used to ‘draw’ virtually every bit of the browser you see on screen, was built from the ground up by Google to do a number of things, including unifying codebases to make development and availability of new features truly cross-platform. The schedule aims to see the complete removal of NPAPI plugin compatibility at a code level by the end of 2014.įor Windows and Mac this end-date remains the target, but on Linux things are moving much faster.

Phased depreciation of the plugin format was announced by Google in autumn of last year. In its place comes a securer, sandboxed and more performant standard in the shape of the ‘Pepper Plugin API’ (PPAPI).Īn Adobe Flash plugin using PPAPI comes bundled with Google Chrome on Windows, Mac, Chrome OS and Linux.

The ageing plugin architecture, which allows for unrestricted access to a computer, is considered inefficient and insecure, with Google calling it ‘the leading cause of hangs, crashes, and security incidents’. Google are to drop support for the ‘Netscape Plugin API’ ( NPAPI) – used by Adobe Flash – on Linux builds of Chrome/ium far sooner than was originally planned. Flash content will stop working in Chromium on Linux from this April, it has been announced.