AfterDawn: News

Google Chrome no longer beta

Search engine giant Google released its Chrome web browser in early September. As expected the browser was released as a beta version but what was definitely not expected just happened. After three months of beta test development Google has released an official stable version 1.0.154.36 of Chrome.

Approximately 100 days, 10 million downloads and 14 updates. That is the Chrome beta in a nutshell. The latest update improves the stability, speed of start up and JavaScript processing as well as overall performance.



The new stable version also improves the bookmark features - you are now able to easily import and export bookmarks to and from your Google Chrome.

Chrome will be updated frequently in the future as well. Upcoming updates will add form prefilling, browser extension and RSS support as well as Linux and Mac OS X versions of the browser.

Download Google Chrome.

Written by: Matti Robinson @ 12 Dec 2008 4:02

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• 27 comments

• borhan9

  I want to give this a whirl and see how it goes.

  12.12.2008 04:44 #1

• elk1007

  I fear googles reaching too far now.
  
  Privacy may be a concern.

  12.12.2008 08:00 #2

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by elk1007: I fear googles reaching too far now.
  
  Privacy may be a concern.Well look at it like this a government could force MS to give up info off MSN search,IE usage and OS statistics and any info they have "gathered" over their customers so its nothing to new, just be wary and sue any "lite" version of the application ^_~

  12.12.2008 12:05 #3

• SProdigy

  Originally posted by elk1007: I fear googles reaching too far now.
  
  Privacy may be a concern.Chances are if you are an online shopper, a corporation like eBay or Amazon already knows more about you than the government!

  12.12.2008 12:38 #4

• sKrEwZ

  Personally, I will just hang out for a while and see how it goes for those that use it. Keeping my eye on it though. o.O
  

  Sometimes a second chance is just the opportunity to kill something thats already injured.

  12.12.2008 12:41 #5

• Pop_Smith

  I am surprised that Google took Chrome out of Beta so quickly. I am kind of glad they did.
  
  I actually use it regularly, and probably will until FF3.1 is final.

  12.12.2008 12:56 #6

• geestar20

  I have been using it a bit myself and I must say...Im impressed! I like the feel of it and I definitely like the incognito tab :P
  
  I hope they will incorporate the google tool bar like FF and IE have.
  
  All in all...I like it!

  12.12.2008 13:08 #7

• borhan9

  I used it yesterday for like half an hour and found it too be not user friendly that much. Yes it is a great program but however for the average general user that is not Computer Litrate it can be a headache but for the rest of us the learning curve is less than five minutes.
  
  It felt like it had a few more bugs to figure out aswell soo i guess i will wait till i see improvements Internet Explorer and FireFox are still way ahead.

  12.12.2008 16:04 #8

• Leningrad

  used the browser and its crap, on the other hand it only increases googles monopoly.

  12.12.2008 18:14 #9

• wolf123

  Originally posted by Leningrad: used the browser and its crap, on the other hand it only increases googles monopoly.How long did you use it for 2 seconds I am trying it out it don't have toolbars like yahoo tool bar but crap I don't think so and it is faster then FF3 even after I tweaked it.

  12.12.2008 18:20 #10

• Run4two

  Let's face it. Even if it's the best thing sinced sliced bread(#20), you can't really get rid of IE since it is the computer explorer built into Windows.

  12.12.2008 21:49 #11

• greensman

  I tried it for about 30 minutes earlier today and it was ok but I'm just so used to FF2 I'll have to use it longer I guess. I've got K-meleon running on the other computer right now and I like it a little better but it's based on something Mozilla has. lol. It's dang fast too. ;)
  
  ...gm
  

  [img]quoted from creaky, "I think i need a break away from this thread, you are just talking absolute and utter nonsense now. Im off to ban myself and hit myself repeatedly with blunt objects. And if im still conscious after that im going to install Windows Me."[/img]
  PC build thread blank media thread Ultimate DVD Backup resource thread what did binkie7 do to me???

  12.12.2008 23:14 #12

• LOCOENG

  I've been using Chrome for about two months and I'm completely used to it. For a browser it does what I want as far as basic browsing goes. I still turn to FF3 from time to time when I need to utilize certain plugins.
  

  
  

  12.12.2008 23:23 #13

• martin280

  I uninstalled chrome, it was acting strange and connecting to pages slow. Probably just something on my crappy computer causing a problem, I will try Chrome again though.
  

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  13.12.2008 01:33 #14

• dRD

  I use 4 years old Celeron-based laptop as my work computer and Firefox has been giving me fits for the past year or so with its slowness and constant hang-ups that even full re-install couldn't fix (memory leaks...).
  
  Switched to Chrome 3 weeks ago and despite some getting-used-to stuff at first, I'm pretty confident that it'll my browser of choice for quite some time.
  
  Sure, plugins would be nice, but not necessary -- only plugin that I really do miss is the one that gave me full control of the tabbing in Firefox (I prefer to keep the tabs at the bottom of the browser window, etc). But then again, now I have a browser that feels fast even on 1GHz Celeron (with 1.5GB RAM). And I admit it, I'm falling in love with the Chrome's default "new tab" page.
  
  Worth a try .. worth a longer-than-one-day try to be exact, as it has some stuff made so much different than in other browsers, it takes some time to get used to it.
  
  Quote:Let's face it. Even if it's the best thing sinced sliced bread(#20), you can't really get rid of IE since it is the computer explorer built into Windows.I remember reading an article couple of weeks ago where Google guys said that they have partnerships in place with guys like Dell and HP which they plan to use to get the Chrome as the default browser for all new laptops made by their partners. Google might have the muscle to get the Joe Averages to swap their default browser :-) A muscle that Mozilla/Firefox seem to lack.

  13.12.2008 07:15 #15

• Pop_Smith

  One other feature I enjoy, which I didn't learn about until about my fifth day with Chrome, is the closing tabs feature.
  
  Yes you can close all other tabs in Firefox but, without a plug-in, you don't have as much tab control compared to what Chrome gives you.
  
  That is you can close all other tabs, just the ones to the right of a specific tab, or any child tabs spawned by a specific tab. You can also "drag and drop" tabs to rearrange them, which makes them easier to organize or close a bunch of them at once after a little switching around.
  
  Originally posted by dRD: I remember reading an article couple of weeks ago where Google guys said that they have partnerships in place with guys like Dell and HP which they plan to use to get the Chrome as the default browser for all new laptops made by their partners. Google might have the muscle to get the Joe Averages to swap their default browser :-) A muscle that Mozilla/Firefox seem to lack.That would be nice to see because it would help get the less tech savvy crowd off IE and onto a different browser.
  
  Peace

  13.12.2008 13:35 #16

• ZippyDSM

  Quote:One other feature I enjoy, which I didn't learn about until about my fifth day with Chrome, is the closing tabs feature.
  
  Yes you can close all other tabs in Firefox but, without a plug-in, you don't have as much tab control compared to what Chrome gives you.
  
  That is you can close all other tabs, just the ones to the right of a specific tab, or any child tabs spawned by a specific tab. You can also "drag and drop" tabs to rearrange them, which makes them easier to organize or close a bunch of them at once after a little switching around.
  
  Originally posted by dRD: I remember reading an article couple of weeks ago where Google guys said that they have partnerships in place with guys like Dell and HP which they plan to use to get the Chrome as the default browser for all new laptops made by their partners. Google might have the muscle to get the Joe Averages to swap their default browser :-) A muscle that Mozilla/Firefox seem to lack.That would be nice to see because it would help get the less tech savvy crowd off IE and onto a different browser.
  
  PeaceCurrent version of FF you can drag,drop close,un close and save current session, so for me there is lil diffidence in them, the only thing I need in FF is a plugin to manage the toolbar as it dose not do multiple rows by itself.

  13.12.2008 13:47 #17

• borhan9

  I am giving this web browser another go give it a good and propper chance.

  14.12.2008 02:06 #18

• EvilDeeds

  Originally posted by Run4two: Let's face it. Even if it's the best thing sinced sliced bread(#20), you can't really get rid of IE since it is the computer explorer built into Windows.Ah yes, but not everybody is running Windows these days! ;) Anything that increases choice in the browser market is good news to me.... I'm just waiting for the osx/linux versions.

  15.12.2008 09:14 #19

• electriac

  I must stick with FF because I need spell checking

  16.12.2008 19:27 #20

• borhan9

  Originally posted by electriac: I must stick with FF because I need spell checkingit has spell checking. It has everything firefox does.

  17.12.2008 04:49 #21

• EvilDeeds

  Quote:Originally posted by electriac: I must stick with FF because I need spell checkingit has spell checking. It has everything firefox does.Does it allow extensions, and if it does then does it do the main two I use and everybody else I know uses, namely AdBlock and NoScript??
  
  I haven't bothered checking because I can't run it yet - but I'm assuming a company built on advertising isn't going to integrate or allow an AdBlock extension... but I'm really asking if those two are in there, not making a statement that they arn't! Anybody know?

  17.12.2008 05:49 #22

• dRD

  Quote:Quote:Originally posted by electriac: I must stick with FF because I need spell checkingit has spell checking. It has everything firefox does.Does it allow extensions, and if it does then does it do the main two I use and everybody else I know uses, namely AdBlock and NoScript??
  
  I haven't bothered checking because I can't run it yet - but I'm assuming a company built on advertising isn't going to integrate or allow an AdBlock extension... but I'm really asking if those two are in there, not making a statement that they arn't! Anybody know?Pretty much the only thing Chrome doesn't support yet, are the extensions. Apparently the extension API is in the works, but not available yet.

  17.12.2008 07:23 #23

• EvilDeeds

  Cool - thanks for the info... I'm looking forward to the mac/linux versions more now then, if they make the extension api similar enough to ff I'm expecting most people to port their stuff over pretty quickly! :)

  17.12.2008 07:29 #24

• Gnawnivek

  How's security on this Chrome thing? Any good? I'm guessing it's better than IE?

  17.12.2008 13:19 #25

• gsebs

  maybe it is just one step to many in using google product, but what the heck they know enough about me already.

  18.12.2008 21:01 #26

• SuperXL

  i have been using chrome mostly since the first beta release. it took some getting used to, but still worthy of being a browser. the main thing i liked was that i can pull a tab out of the list and start a new window with it. there were a couple of things i didnt like about it like the lack of a menu bar, and extensions that allow for unnecessary crap (downloading youtube vids) but there were workarounds that worked for me. all in all, chrome works for what i need... reading webcomics and afterdawn news letters.

  24.12.2008 03:04 #27