Since Google Chrome’s release in September of 2008, Mac and Linux users have been playing catch-up with Windows users for features and stable releases. As of today, all three versions of Chrome are now officially stable as the Mac and Linux versions have shed their beta labels to become faster versions with new features. According to the official Google Chrome blog, the new universally stable release also includes a handful of new HTML5 and syncing features.
Previously, only bookmarks could be synced across various machines, but with this latest release, users will now be able to port their preferences – including zoom defaults, themes and homepage settings – to the various computers they browse from. By associating browser settings with a Google account, users can quickly sync the settings on their various installations of Chrome.
Additionally, this newest version of Chrome now supports some fancy new HTML5 features, including geolocation APIs and drag-and-drop functionality. Beta release testers of Chrome may have already spotted the ability to use Google Maps’ location functions, as well as drag-and-drop of attachments from within Gmail.
According to Google, today’s release of Chrome is the fastest ever, improving “by 213 percent and 305 percent in Javascript performance by the V8 and SunSpider benchmarks” since its initial beta release. Google is also working with Adobe to fully integrate Flash into the browser with new plug-in APIs, but this will not be available until the next full release of Flash Player, which is slated to happen in the near future.
Image by Christoph Niemann.
