-1

From Wikipedia:

Netscape Plugin Application Programming Interface (NPAPI) is an application programming interface (API) that allows plug-ins (more specifically, browser extensions) to be developed for web browsers. It was first developed for Netscape browsers, starting in 1995 with Netscape Navigator 2.0, but was subsequently adopted by other browsers.

I have looked for duplicate questions but cannot find one that is general enough to answer the question I have. I would like to know in what versions of different major browsers (Firefox, Chrome, etc.) NPAPI support was dropped, meaning from what version can these no longer be expected to work, and what version of a specific browser you need to run to make sure they do.

Running outdated software is never a good idea, and running an old browser should be an absolute last resort after doing research into the alternatives (such as Java Web Start), but please stick to the topic. The question is not what the pros and cons are, or an invitation to discuss why NPAPI support was dropped, or whether it's a good thing or not that it was.

The only question is: In what versions of major browsers was support for NPAPI plugins dropped?

pzkpfw
  • 1,103

1 Answers1

3

Firefox 52

According to Slashdot, "[starting from] Firefox 52, all plugins built on the old NPAPI technology will stop working in Firefox, except for Flash, which Mozilla plans to support for a few more versions. This means technologies such as Java, Silverlight, and various audio and video codecs won't work on Firefox"

Extended Support Release (ESR)

According to support.mozilla.org, "The ESR (Extended Support Release) of Firefox 52 will continue to support these plugins until early 2018."

Important: The Windows 64-bit version of Firefox 52 ESR only supports the Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight plugins. If you also need support for Java or other plugins, choose the Windows (32-bit) download.

Chrome 45

While Chrome 42 was the first version to disable NPAPI by default, version 45 was the first to drop support completely. According to java.com, "Google's Chrome version 45 drops support for NPAPI, impacting plugins for Silverlight, Java, Facebook Video and other similar NPAPI based plugins."

pzkpfw
  • 1,103