Google has recently revealed its plans to make certain that Google Apps and Gmail will no longer work with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9. The company said that it has completely stopped any engineering and testing that would normally ensure that Gmail and Apps are able to work with IE9. In a few weeks, Microsoft customers will receive notifications that IE9 is now an unsupported browser, along with a recommendation to upgrade to a more ‘modern’ browser choice instead.
Although some may find this news to be a bit dramatic, the decision is actually in line with Google’s policy that was released a couple of years ago. It is not a reflection of Google trying to eliminate competition against Chrome, but rather a matter of Google keeping its word. Announced in June 2011, the policy stated that its apps and services would only work with current and prior releases of major browsers. That policy applies to Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple’s Safari browsers.
The only reason that Internet Explorer 9 is being eliminated is because Microsoft recently released Internet Explorer 11 last month. This means that Google only needs to ensure that its apps are able to work with IE11 and IE10. When Internet Explorer 10 was approaching release last year along with the release of Windows 8, Google prepared users as early as a month in advance to let them know that the support for IE8 would end. In comparison, Google is late in announcing the change for Internet Explorer 9. There hasn’t been any explanation of why Google delayed to inform users that it was ending IE9 support.
Recent reports online have mentioned that Internet Explorer 11 is not working properly with Gmail lately, leaving some concern for Microsoft customers. With the elimination of Internet Explorer 9, Google has narrowed their options to rely upon and left them with only with their remaining support for Internet Explorer 10.
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