Will my Java Applets run on Chrome 45?

Question

The web application we develop uses three Java Applets.

We know that Chrome 45 will drop NPAPI support. In this page, Oracle says that Java Plugin relies on NPAPI.

https://java.com/en/download/faq/chrome.xml

The fact is that I've tried to execute my Applets with chrome 43 and 44, which disable NPAPI by default but not the Java Plugin and they execute correctly, although some extra warning messages appear on the top of the window saying that the Java Plugin will be disabled soon.

Question 1: If Java Plugin relies on NPAPI, why are my applets working? I don't undertand it.

Question 2: Is the Java Plugin for Chrome going to be unsupported in Chrome 45 and, are my Applets going to work in Chrome 45?

Phraseogram

Unless oracle does something about it, no applets will not run on chrome versions released after September. – Indigo

My question is why in the intervening two years since the notice hasn't Oracle done anything about it, hell Adobe updated flash. – Visceral

Answer 1

1) Most likely either you re-enabled NPAPI support yourself, or you are in a managed environment that re-enabled NPAPI support for you. You can check chrome://flags to see if it's enabled.

2) No, your applets won't work in Chrome once NPAPI support is completely removed (that's why the infobar you describe is there).

Multiphase

Answer 2

No.

After the release of Chrome version 45, you’ll need to use an alternate web browser to load content that requires a NPAPI plugin.

https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/6213033?hl=en

Eurhythmy

Answer 3

Oracle has an FAQ for that:

"The Java plug-in for web browsers relies on the cross platform plugin architecture NPAPI, which has long been, and currently is, supported by all major web browsers. Google announced in September 2013 plans to remove NPAPI support from Chrome by "the end of 2014", thus effectively dropping support for Silverlight, Java, Facebook Video and other similar NPAPI based plugins. Recently, Google has revised their plans and now state that they plan to completely remove NPAPI by late 2015. As it is unclear if these dates will be further extended or not, we strongly recommend Java users consider alternatives to Chrome as soon as possible. Instead, we recommend Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari as longer-term options."

So to answer your question: No.

Unreconstructed

Answer 4

Use Yandex browser it supports NPAPI and is similar to Chrome. https://browser.yandex.com

Daytoday

It's based on Chromium, which means when all the code to support NPAPI is removed to simplify the codebase, either Yandex will also have to drop support, or they'll have to maintain major forking in the core layers forever. – Multiphase

Answer 5

We have just released in Beta a Chrome extension (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/cheerpj-applet-runner-bet/bbmolahhldcbngedljfadjlognfaaein) that restores applets support in Chrome. The extension is secure, fully client based and does not install any binary plugin. Give it a try.

Bailes