In a bid to stop the use of old and insecure browsers, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) has announced that, beginning August 1, it will be phasing out support for older browsers such as Firefox 3.5, Internet Explorer 7 and Safari 3. While services such as Gmail, Google Calendar and Docs will still be usable, users may have trouble accessing certain features--and these services may eventually stop working altogether on unsupported browsers.

Google observed how features such as desktop notifications (Gmail) and drag-and-drop file upload (Google Docs) require the use of advanced browsers, suggesting that newer features could have been kept on the shelf due to the inability of older browsers to support them. Supporting so many different versions of browsers would have undoubtedly been an engineering nightmare.

Google's vice president of engineering, Venkat Panchapakesan, wrote in a blog post: "Older browsers just don't have the chops to provide you with the same high-quality experience." If figures by StatCounter are any indication, at least 12% of users will need to upgrade to continue enjoying the full-range of Google's online services.

For more:
- check out this article at BBC News
- check out this article at PC Mag

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