Google Begins Barring Browser Plug-ins from Chrome

 In case it wasn't clear before, a Google decision has shown the writing is on the wall for plug-ins such as Java and Silverlight that for years have been used to extend what browsers can do. Starting in January 2014, Google will ban all but the most widely used browser plug-ins in favor of programming methods that use standards built directly into the Web, Chrome security engineer Justin Schuh announced in a blog post Monday.

Most Chrome plug-ins (not to be confused with the lighter-weight add-on option called extensions) use a technology that predate Google's browser by years: the Netscape plug-in application programming interface, or NPAPI. Chrome, unique among browsers, has a second interface called Pepper (PPAPI) that isn't affected by the change -- and that's how Google connects Adobe Systems' Flash Player, by far the most widely used plug-in.