Friday, May 22nd 2009

Google Chrome 2.0 Reaches Stable Status

Eight months after Google's own attempts at a web browser were first launched, they have now announced on the Google Chrome Blog that the latest beta which was released in March, has reached a stable stage, by which they can now release it to the general public. If you're already using Google Chrome, you'll be automatically updated to this new version soon. Otherwise you can grab the latest version at google.com/chrome

Here are some improvements that you'll notice right away:

- Improved New Tab Page: The most requested feature from users was the ability to remove thumbnails from the New Tab page. Now you can finally hide that embarrassing gossip blog from the Most Visited section.

- Full Screen Mode: If you've ever given a presentation or watched a large video using Google Chrome, you might have wished you could use every last pixel on your screen for the content. Now you can hide the title bar and the rest of the browser window by hitting F11 or selecting the option in the Tools menu.

- Form Autofill: Filling out your information in forms over and over again can be tedious. Form autofill helps by showing information you've previously entered into the same form fields automatically. If at any point you want to clear out your information, that's easy to do from the Tools menu.

And here are some improvements that aren't immediately visible, but will make web browsing with Google Chrome more enjoyable:

- Increased Stability: Google Chrome is more stable than ever--we have fixed over 300 bugs that caused crashes since launch.

- Increased Speed: Making the web faster continues to be our main area of focus. Thanks to a new version of WebKit and an update to our JavaScript engine, V8, interactive web pages will run even faster. We've also made sure that JavaScript keeps running fast even when you have lots of tabs open. Try opening a bunch of web applications and then running your favorite benchmark. You can read more about V8 in our JavaScript scalability post on the Chromium blog.
Source: Google Chrome Blog
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15 Comments on Google Chrome 2.0 Reaches Stable Status

#1
Mega-Japan
As much as I've been liking Chrome, these new features don't justify the full digit version upgrades. It feels more like 1.1... Well, I don't know... how about that plugin support you promised google?
Posted on Reply
#2
beyond_amusia
I hope this runs on Win 7 without constantly bugging out ^_^
Posted on Reply
#3
GSG-9
beyond_amusiaI hope this runs on Win 7 without constantly bugging out ^_^
My thoughts exactly...
Posted on Reply
#5
WarEagleAU
Bird of Prey
I like chrome, but it needs to be a bit more polished. Combine Safari and Firefox and do a new spin on it.
Posted on Reply
#6
Weer
Mega-JapanAs much as I've been liking Chrome, these new features don't justify the full digit version upgrades. It feels more like 1.1... Well, I don't know... how about that plugin support you promised google?
Well, not everyone can be like W1z, where he adds 500 cards to GPU-Z and goes from 1.0001 to 1.0001.5.
Posted on Reply
#7
Weer
WarEagleAUI like chrome, but it needs to be a bit more polished. Combine Safari and Firefox and do a new spin on it.
I dislike all the people saying "I like Chrome, but.." as if Chrome is some side-show.

I think it's the best browser ever. In terms of functionality, Avant browser always had the win. Now, another perfect Google product, Chrome is fast and simple, which is exactly what I want.
Posted on Reply
#8
Studabaker
Show me the Chrome variants of Ad-Block Plus and Mouse Gestures Redox and I will make the Switch.
Posted on Reply
#9
Weer
StudabakerShow me the Chrome variants of Ad-Block Plus and Mouse Gestures Redox and I will make the Switch.
Wow, the Mouse Gestures app looks awesome, especially for someone like me who enjoys being super-lazy when he can.

But, Chrome still has an Ad-Block system, as far as I know. I've never gotten pop-up ads ever since I started using it. When I switch back to IE or Firefox, I get ads. On Firefox, they're concealed, but in Chrome it's somehow much more simple, which is the key word behind my affection for it. Not that I don't like complex things.. just not when I want to be, as I said, super-lazy.

Even without all the cool apps, I still choose Chrome. And I think, if you'd make the switch so quickly, you must know what I'm talking about.
Posted on Reply
#10
Studabaker
WeerWow, the Mouse Gestures app looks awesome, especially for someone like me who enjoys being super-lazy when he can.

But, Chrome still has an Ad-Block system, as far as I know. I've never gotten pop-up ads ever since I started using it. When I switch back to IE or Firefox, I get ads. On Firefox, they're concealed, but in Chrome it's somehow much more simple, which is the key word behind my affection for it. Not that I don't like complex things.. just not when I want to be, as I said, super-lazy.

Even without all the cool apps, I still choose Chrome. And I think, if you'd make the switch so quickly, you must know what I'm talking about.
Ad-Block blocks all forms of in-page advertising (images, flash, etc even entire advertising sites), not pop-ups so like 90%+ of the pages you visit are entirely free of annoying ads.
Posted on Reply
#11
Weer
StudabakerAd-Block blocks all forms of in-page advertising (images, flash, etc even entire advertising sites), not pop-ups so like 90%+ of the pages you visit are entirely free of annoying ads.
But how does it differentiate between Flash ads and.. Flash websites, images of naked ladies and.. images of friends of family? Seems buggy. Chrome is too good to deal with that stuff.

No, no.. but I still like Chrome. When I gain my faith in an OS again, which means I won't have to re-install it every 3 months, I'll put some muslce greese into tweaking my browser.
Posted on Reply
#12
Studabaker
WeerBut how does it differentiate between Flash ads and.. Flash websites, images of naked ladies and.. images of friends of family? Seems buggy. Chrome is too good to deal with that stuff.

No, no.. but I still like Chrome. When I gain my faith in an OS again, which means I won't have to re-install it every 3 months, I'll put some muslce greese into tweaking my browser.
The first thing you do after installing Ad-Block Plus is select from one of various block lists or load your own. So yeah that's how.
Posted on Reply
#13
Mega-Japan
Could anyone explain why the hell did it become so annoyingly hard to regroup the tabs in Chrome 2.0?
Try to drag a tab on its own window, and now try to tag it back as a tab on the main windows. One of the most annoying crap ever!
Posted on Reply
#14
Silverel
StudabakerThe first thing you do after installing Ad-Block Plus is select from one of various block lists or load your own. So yeah that's how.
www.adsweep.org/

Lol, seriously, you guys don't try hard enough.
Posted on Reply
#15
Studabaker
Silverelwww.adsweep.org/

Lol, seriously, you guys don't try hard enough.
Word, nice find! I'll give Chrome + AdSweep & Gmote a shot here sometime soon.
Posted on Reply
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