MANILA, Philippines – Gmail users who aren’t on the latest version of Google’s Chrome browser – or are still using an operating system that cannot upgrade to the latest Chrome versions – will want to update their browser as soon as they can.

In a recent announcement, Google said it would be discontinuing Gmail support for Chrome versions 53 and below. 

While Gmail will still work on older versions of the Chrome browser, specific features, bug fixes, and security updates will not be available unless one upgrades Chrome to version 55, the latest version as of this writing.

Gmail will continue to work on older versions of Chrome through the end of 2017, though Google says it is possible they will be redirected to the HTML version of the service by December.

While Google does have a supported browser policy in which only the latest version of Chrome is technically supported by the company, it noted the need for an announcement given those who are still using Windows XP or Windows Vista. For them, Chrome version 49 was the last released version for those operating systems, which increases the risk factor for those users.

The company hopes that the formal announcement will help lessen the impact on those holding out on older operating systems. – Rappler.com