eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.
Google has some advice for the average Mac and Linux user – don’t download Chrome just yet.
The versions of the Chrome browser released last night via Google’s development channel still have some kinks in them and were only made available to allow developers to kick the tires, Google officials said. Those who download them will find them with more than a few bugs and lacking some of Chrome’s normal security features and capabilities.
“In order to get more feedback from developers, we have early developer channel versions of Google Chrome for Mac OS X and Linux, but whatever you do, please DON’T DOWNLOAD THEM! Unless of course you are a developer or take great pleasure in incomplete, unpredictable, and potentially crashing software,” Google officials wrote on their Chromium blog.
“How incomplete? So incomplete that, among other things , you won’t yet be able to view YouTube videos, change your privacy settings, set your default search provider, or even print.”
Google has three channels for Chrome – developer, beta and stable. The developer channel is the earliest stage, where the product is updated often.
Though the product may not be ready for regular users yet, Sophos Senior Technology Consultant Graham Cluley spoke in favor of Google’s approach. Releasing an early version to the “hardcore browser developer community” will help bugs get found, he said in a blog post.
For Mac and Linux users eagerly awaiting Chrome’s release, Scott Knaster from Google’s Mac team said the development process “is coming along fine.” The company did not offer a date as to when the beta or stable versions of the browser would be ready for Linux or Mac.