14 DAY TRIAL // The latest update to the Stable flavor of Google’s open source browser introduces a number of bug fixes and security patches, and is now available for download. “Google Chrome 4.1.249.1064 has been released to the Stable channel on Windows,” Mark Larson, Google Chrome Team, revealed. Version 4.1 of Chrome continues to be Windows-exclusive, although Google is hard at work on Linux and Mac OS X versions of the browser, including v5.0, for which development efforts are synchronized across all the supported platforms.
“This release fixes the following issues: Google Chrome was not using the correct path for the Java plugin for Java Version 6 Update 20. 4.1.249.1059 was much slower on JavaScript benchmarks than 4.1.249.1045,” Larson explained.
According to Google, users of Chrome 4.1.249.1064 will notice that the JavaScript performance of the browser is now back at normal parameters, specific to v4.1, as far as the SunSpider test is concerned. A bug filed for the Chromium project indicates that Chrome 4.1.249.1059 takes longer to complete SunSpider than the previous Stable channel release. Google has addressed this issue with Chrome 4.1.249.1064, making sure that the browser lives up to its marketed JavaScript performance standards.
“This release also fixes the following security issues: High Cross-origin bypass in Google URL (GURL). High Memory corruption in HTML5 Media handling. High Memory corruption in font handling,” Larson added. The Mountain View-based search giant offered financial incentives to two security researchers that reported vulnerabilities in Chrome. Provided that the security vulnerabilities qualify for the Chromium Security Reward, Google is ready to reward researchers with cash, in an effort to keep Chromium, and Chrome as secure as possible.
Users of the Stable version of Chrome are advised to download and install 4.1.249.1064 as soon as possible in order to render useless potential attacks targeting vulnerabilities discovered in the browser.
The latest release of Google Chrome 4.1 for Windows is available for download here.
The latest Dev channel release of Google Chrome 5.0 is available for download here.