Google
announced on March 17 the newest beta release of Google Chrome, its Web browser.
This beta has been released, the company says, with the intention of drawing feedback
on its new features.
Since Chrome initially rolled out in September 2008, Google
has strived to make its Web browser unique in the market, including features
such as Google
Gears, a hybrid search address bar.
Seven months and 29 updates later, Google claims that this
new beta version is nearly twice as fast as the original beta version. Although
the company removed the "beta" designation from Chrome in December, it’s reattached the
label "for some early feedback," according to the newly launched Google Chrome
Blog that can be found here.
"The first thing you might notice about this new beta is the
speed improvement, but you'll also find additional browsing tools," Brian Rakowski, product manager for Google Chrome, wrote in
a posting on the official Google blog, "such as basic form autofill, full
page zoom, support for autoscroll, and a new way to drag tabs into side-by-side
view."
"If you're already using Google Chrome and choose to install the new beta, you
will update and replace the current version on your desktop," Rakowski added. "Otherwise, you can just keep on
using the stable version."
News has been heating up on the browser-wars front. On March
13, Mozilla released its Firefox 3.1 beta 3 Web browser, also for evaluation
and feedback. That
version of Firefox claimed increased stability and support for new Web
technologies.
Recent studies have also been alternately
claiming that various browsers, ranging from Internet Explorer 8 to Google
Chrome, Firefox, Apple Safari and Opera are the fastest currently available – somewhat
of a moot point to most end-users when
differences in performance are now measured in milliseconds.
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