Firefox added built-in checking for outdated plug-ins a while back, and it was announced back in June that Google Chrome would soon add the feature. After all, surfing with older, unpatched versions of Flash, Java, or QuickTime poses a security risk, and browser security is a vital part of Chrome's core.

Following the update to 7.0.542.0 in Chrome's bleeding-edge Canary build, Windows users can now turn on outdated plug-in checking. To flip the switch, jump to the about:labs page and click the enable link. Unlike some other experimental features, the plug-in check doesn't require a restart.

Right now, the check is only available in Canary -- but this is the kind of feature Google tends to push to Chrome's other channels in short order.

Google Chrome gets outdated plug-in blocking originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 09:00:00 EST.