HomeOur Team

Google Issues Upgrade Warning For 2 Billion Chrome Users

By Vitus White
Published in Apps & Software
March 25, 2020
2 min read
Google Issues Upgrade Warning For 2 Billion Chrome Users

Google has only just announced [significant cuts](https://www.forbes.com/sites/kateoflahertyuk/2020/03/19/google-just-confirmed-a-powerful-chrome-covid-19-security-move-that-will-impact-all-users/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/kateoflahertyuk/2020/03/19/google-just-confirmed-a-powerful-chrome-covid-19-security-move-that-will-impact-all-users/) to Chrome browser development. But today it is taking things even further.

In a shock move first spotted by [ChromeUnboxed](https://chromeunboxed.com/chrome-os-version-82-abandoned-delays-release/ https://chromeunboxed.com/chrome-os-version-82-abandoned-delays-release/), Google has warned users that the the impact of COVID-19 means it has had to scrap the next major release of Chrome entirely.

03/25 Update: Microsoft has now followed in Google’s steps, [confirming](https://twitter.com/MSEdgeDev https://twitter.com/MSEdgeDev) it will also cancel the next major version of Edge. Given that Edge is now built on a Chromium core like Google Chrome, Microsoft had little choice but to follow suit. __In light of the current circumstances, the Edge team will pause updating the Stable channel to Edge 81 consistent with the Chromium Project. We are committed to continued security and stability updates to Edge 80. We’ll have more to share on this next week, the company explained. Opera is also based on Chromium and while it has not made an announcement to stall new versions, that seems like a matter of time. Firefox, on the other hand, is based on its own Gecko engine and it remains to be seen whether the company chooses to continue releasing new versions at this time.

As we adapt our future milestone schedules to the current change in schedule, we have decided to skip the M82 release to ensure we keep users safe and focus all efforts on maintaining stability, [explained](https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/forum/#!topic/chromium-dev/Vn7uzglqLz0 https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/forum/#!topic/chromium-dev/Vn7uzglqLz0) Jason Kersey, Google’s director of technical program management.

M82 is the codename for Chrome 82 and it would have been the backbone for the next big upgrade of Chrome on Windows, Mac, Android and Chrome OS. Kersey states that every element of the release will be abandoned with plans to skip to Chrome 83 (M83) at some point in the future:

  • We will abandon current M82 branches, remove infra support, and stop testing/merges to the branches
  • We will not push any new M82 releases to Dev, and we will stop stabilization for Beta.
  • We will move Dev channel to M83 asap
  • We will keep Beta channel on M81 until M83 is ready to be promoted

In fairness to Google, while this comes as a shock because it is an unprecedented move in Chrome’s 11-year history, we are currently living in unprecedented times. Moreover, while Chrome feature development is in hiatus, Google will continue to deliver security patches for the current version of Chrome, protecting the browser’s 2BN strong userbase.

So where do we go from here? There will be more cancellations. Chromium, the core for Google Chrome, powers numerous web browsers, including Microsoft Edge. All are now hamstrung and you can expect Microsoft to lead the way in making a similar announcement for Edge this week.


Tags

#chrome
Previous Article
Google My Business Temporarily Removes Features Due to COVID-19
Vitus White

Vitus White

Web Developer

Related Posts

In Chrome address bar, HTTPS will be applied by default
January 11, 2021
1 min
© 2022, All Rights Reserved.

Quick Links

Our TeamContact Us

Legal Stuff

Social Media