Google to resume Chrome updates it paused last week due to COVID-19
Google paused Chrome updates last week when it canceled the Chrome 81 release in order to avoid causing severe disruptions to web developers, system administrators, and its own engineers, most working from home or having resources strained due to ever-worsening coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
In a blog post on the Chrome blog today, Google said it is now ready to resume work on Chrome.
The company said that starting next week, the current Chrome 80 release will start receiving security updates once againt.
Chrome v81, initially scheduled to be released on March 17, was rescheduled for April 7, at which time, web developers and system administrators would have had the time to adapt to their new working conditions.
The Chrome 82 release was canceled altogether, with features being reshuffled into Chrome 83 and other versions.
Per the new adjusted schedule, Chrome 83 is now expected to be released somewhere in mid-May.
Google wasn't the only major tech company to delay work on its software due to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Microsoft, too, paused the Edge 81 release over the weekend.
On Tuesday, Microsoft also paused optional Windows 10 cumulative updates starting in May, also citing the impact on its customerbase from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mozilla didn't pause Firefox updates, but the company did roll back a security feature it recently enabled that would have prevented users from accessing HTTPS-based government websites that might have contained COVID-19-related information.