Google Chrome Out Of Beta!!!

12/11/2008 10:00:00 AM
Since we first released Google Chrome, the development team has been hard at work improving the stability and overall performance of the browser. In just 100 days, we have reached more than 10 million active users around the world (on all seven continents, no less) and released 14 updates to the product. We're excited to announce that with today's fifteenth release we are taking off the "beta" label!

Google Chrome is a better browser today thanks to the many users who sent their feedback and the many more who enabled automatic crash reports, helping us rapidly diagnose and fix issues. Some of the areas where we've made great progress include:

Better stability and performance of plug-ins (particularly video). Video and audio glitches were among the most common bugs fixed during the beta period. If you had problems watching videos with Google Chrome in the past, you should be pleasantly surprised with the performance now.

Even more speed. Google Chrome starts up fast, loads pages quickly, and just keeps getting faster. Since the first beta, the V8 JavaScript engine runs 1.4 times faster on the SunSpider benchmark and 1.5 times faster on the V8 benchmark — and there is more speed to come.

Bookmark manager and privacy controls. We heard you! Better bookmark features were a top request from our users. It's now easier to switch between another browser and Google Chrome with the bookmark import and export features, and we added a new simple way to manage large numbers of bookmarks, too. We also wanted to make it even easier for you to control your browsing data, so all of the features in Google Chrome which affect user privacy are now grouped in one place with detailed explanations for each one.

We've taken security very seriously from the beginning and we will continue to look for ways to make Google Chrome and all browsers even more secure. Google Chrome's unique sandbox technology creates an additional layer of defense against harmful software, while the Safe Browsing feature provides protection against phishing and malware attacks for many browser users.

We have removed the beta label as our goals for stability and performance have been met but our work is far from done. We are working to add some common browser features such as form autofill and RSS support in the near future. We are also developing an extensions platform along with support for Mac and Linux. If you are already using Google Chrome, the update system ensures that you get the latest bug fixes and security patches, so you will get the newest version automatically in the next few days. If you haven't used Google Chrome for a while, now might be a good time to give it another spin.

Read Google's Blog Here: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/google-chrome-beta.html

Donwload Here: http://www.google.com/chrome

 

Sweet!

I will be downloading it soon.

 

I'll give this a try. Can't be any worse than IE.

 

Very interesting and unlike Google to release one of their projects this soon since its debut. I thought they would of had extension and Linux/Apple platforms before it came out of BETA. Ah well.

 

I've heard of google chrome somewhere but I never knew what it was.
I'm downloading it now and will give it a try.
Maybe I'll us it instead of FF3

 

I still love Google Chrome and use it 99.99% of the time. Glad to see so much work done on it (which has been noticeable in the last few months).

 

It's simple and gets the job done, it's faster than firefox for now. So far even firefox 3.1 hasn't been that great for me, I'll probably continue using this since they will allow addons for it.

 

Did you enable TraceMonkey?

 

Ok, I'm using it right now. Everything seems to be working and its fully functional and streaming. No crashes or hiccups yet. I like it. It might be my new browser.

 

You should never use IE. Firefox, Chrome, Opera, etc.

 

I too am surprised that Chrome came out of beta so quickly, not because it's a bad product, but because Google tends to stretch out the beta phase for a long time.

 

Holy crap!!

The version number went from 0.4.154.29 to 1.0.154.36

Though, the sub numbers didn't change much.

 

I'm using it right now, im just using it for surfing no added plugins and its seems pretty fast

 

so it takes a couple months for Chrome to come out of Beta and several years and Gmail is still in beta...

 

Tracemonkey is automatically enabled in FF 3.1 beta 2.

Who cares if GMail is still considered BETA. It doesn't act or seem like a BETA product. It's pretty much done.

Yeah, Chrome is fast and I speed browse with it, though can't wait for an adblocker...then it will become my default.

 

I would use it if it was compatible with MSN games as I play spaadess all the time on MSN games but it isn't

 

I've been using it as my main browser since release. I tried various Chromium builds for a while, but they were not reliable enough - various script-heavy sites broke too often for my comfort.

I do use an ad-filtering proxy with it though.

 

That's very surprising. Hell, even gmail is still in beta lol

 

The reason why it's so surprising to many people that Chrome isn't a beta anymore is that it is very uncharacteristic of Google. Generally, their products either remain in beta for a long time before releasing a "final" version, or stay in beta for a very long time (GMail, Google Earth, etc). Chrome was released and rushed to a final version very quickly compared to Google's previous products.

 

I think because of the competition from Firefox and IE, Chrome can't remain as a beta product for long. It makes sense...if Chrome followed the footsteps of Gmail and Google Earth then it would be more difficult for them to increase market share.

 

Most likely Google wants to have their browser pre-installed onto OEM systems, and to do that, they can't have a beta product. It needs to be a "final" product.

 

Anyone can share a link for full installer download?

the Google installer doesn't seem to work through my proxy... I am currently using v 0.2.149.30, which I installed using a full installer I downloaded from somewhere...

 

Here it is(offline installer): http://dl.google.com/chrome/install/154.36/chrome_installer.exe

 

Awesome. Just updated. I have been using 100% Chrome for a month or so now, all is good.

 

Thanks a lot! downloading!

 

The java plugin quits with a missing dll error in Chrome.

 

Actually, nothing happens when executing the installer... I downloaded it twice already...

EDIT: After checking version number, I'm at 1.0.154.36... so it does work.... a "Chrome has been updated" sign would have been nice... it just updated silently in background without confirmation or notice...

 

I was talking about GMail, not Chrome.

 

Yeah, I was just reflecting on that yesterday.

 

OK i'm using chrome now.
I am considering using this 100% instead of ff3.
It seems faster but i'm just worried about errors and bugs with java, adobe ect.
Should I be worried or should I uninstall FF

 

Don't uninstall FF, if you want to try and use Chrome as your main, go ahead but keep FF as a backup in case.

 

Oops, my bad then

 

I like Firefox 3.1 a bit more. It's a bit faster and has loads more features.

 

Does it have more features without installing extensions?

 

Any tell Google yet that the new Windows Live Hotmail does not work with Google Chrome? You can't write e-mails

 

Ahahaha. I've been writing messages in 'Subject:' when I forget/too lazy to go to IE or Firefox.

 

They have a fix for it in a developer version supposedly...but Ill just use firefox till then.

 

Ok I'm not sure if google forgot to put this feature in or what but...
When using FF3, In hotmail when I select an email and hit the delete key it deletes the email. In Chrome when I hit delete nothing happens.
Can google fix this?

 

and why not?

 

Wasn't for me. Only one of the two about:config's were.

I enabled the second one and it made a MASSIVE difference

 

I only know of one...? Where is the other one to enable?

 

so if we have chrome from before, when it was a beta, it now isnt a beta? or do we have to redownload and install the new one?

 

because on top of being chunkier and slower than firefox / chrome, it also poses a huge security risk.

 

Click the wrench>About Google Chrome, check what version you have. If you don't have the latest version it will say Update Now.

 

Ah thanks so much!

 

Yep.

 

It's questionable

 

about:config

search for jit

2 results

javascript.options.jit.chrome
javascript.options.jit.content

Make sure both are enabled to "true"

For me only one of them was with Firefox 3.1 beta 2

 

Just picked up the update today. I am LOVING Chrome so far. I have been a longtime FF user prior to the Chrome beta, but the UI and most importantly, speed of Chrome have won me over. Great job Google.

 

I just found out that I couldn't write messages in my hotmail account with Chrome.