Having jumped to version 2.0 from 1.0 for the stable channel, Google has also pushed Chrome onward with the introduction of v3.0. The latest update for Chrome 3.0 released through the developer channel is Build 3.0.187.0. This time around, Google is offering the release not just for the Windows operating system, but also for Linux and Mac OS X. Concomitantly with the evolution to build 3.0.187.0, the V8 JavaScript engine was also bumped up a notch to version 1.2.7. But, of course, Chrome 3.0.187.0 comes to the table with additional changes, as Jonathan Conradt, engineering program manager, revealed.

“Highlights for this release: Linux: Import passwords from Firefox; on Mac use Keychain for passwords; fix regression where Omnibox would drop characters during rapid typing; the web inspector is now working again; fix browser hang due to plugin deadlock; enable-user-scripts is working again; extension buttons now show after install; increase the maximum number of cookies to 3000. This matches Firefox; when the contents don't have title, use URL for the name of bookmark entry; move download shelf from per-tab to per-window,” Conradt added.

Preceding the release of Chrome 3.0.187.0 by one day is version 2.0.172.31. According to Google, the update made available through the stable channel involves patching two security vulnerabilities affecting the underlying WebKit rendering engine of Chrome. Mark Larson, Google Chrome program manager, explained that the CVE-2009-1690 Memory corruption vulnerability had a High severity ranking, while the CVE-2009-1718 Drag and drop information leak flaw was considered as posing only a Medium risk.

“CVE-2009-1690 – A memory corruption issue exists in WebKit's handling of recursion in certain DOM event handlers. Visiting a maliciously crafted website may lead to a tab crash or arbitrary code execution in the Google Chrome sandbox,” Larson said. “CVE-2009-1718 – An issue exists in WebKit's handling of drag events. This may lead to the disclosure of sensitive information when content is dragged over a maliciously crafted web page.”

The latest releases of Google Chrome are available for download here.