Google will block outdated plug-ins in Chrome

On the heels of Google introducing automatic updating for the Adobe Flash plug-in, a future version of Google Chrome will include technology that blocks out-of-date plug-ins and helps users update them, Google said.

The company did not provide a timeline for this feature, except to say it will be "medium-term," in a post Monday on The Chromium Blog.

The browser also will eventually offer a warning when a user is about to run infrequently used plug-ins.

"Some plug-ins are widely installed but typically not required for today's Internet experience," the post said. "For most users, any attempt to instantiate such a plug-in is suspicious and Google Chrome will warn on this condition."

Google Chrome already offers the ability to disable individual plug-ins or run only plug-ins that are on a list of trusted domains, and it offers auto-update for Adobe Flash Player. Chrome also has PDF support via an internal plug-in.

Firefox is the only other browser that warns users about plug-in viability. While Firefox checks and disables plug-ins, it doesn't auto-update them like Chrome does. Mozilla says it plans to add auto-updating to Firefox 4, due later this year.

Meanwhile, Mozilla does offer a Web-based checker.