New beta version of Google Chrome released

Google Chrome blog:

Since we took the "beta" tag off Google Chrome in December, we've been updating two release channels: developer and stable. With our latest release, we're re-introducing the beta channel for some early feedback — and if you're reading the brand new Google Chrome blog, you are probably just the person to give it a try.

The best thing about this new beta is speed — it's 25% faster on our V8 benchmark and 35% faster on the Sunspider benchmark than the current stable channel version and almost twice as fast when compared to our original beta version.

Some of the new features you can try out include form autofill, full page zoom and autoscroll (both thanks to a new version of WebKit), and a cool new way to drag tabs out to get a side-by-side view.

Getting on the beta channel means your version of Google Chrome will regularly get updated with new speed enhancements, features, and bug fixes before most users see them. We're doing our best to quickly churn out new features as they are available rather than saving them up for occasional major releases. Riding the beta channel is a great way to let us know about what's working and what's not, but don't be surprised to find some rough edges.

Try out the latest Google Chrome BETA.

Discuss this Article 4

Waethorn
on Mar 17, 2009
Question: Did they ever update the Chrome browser in the G1 to an RTM version? When the G1 was released, Chrome was still in beta (so was Android for that matter).
kenmcnamee
on Mar 17, 2009
Just installed it. Seems to work fine on Windows 7 but I can't say that I see any speed increase over the latest stable Chrome build. Chrome's best feature - in my opinion as a web developer - is its element inspector which I think is better than Firefox and IE8's developer toolbars.
techfan
on Mar 17, 2009
I just saw on Lifehacker.com a video of the new side-by-side, it's so Windows 7-looking. http://lifehacker.com/5172576/google-chrome-beta-updates-boasts-improved... I am a big IE8 fan. Chrome is a nice backup browser but at the moment is too limited to be used as a everyday browser, imo.
Waethorn
on Mar 17, 2009
Chrome: another way for Google to seep your online privacy away from you. In the US and many other countries, there are laws against racial profiling. How does that stand up against Google?

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