Jun 8, 2011 11:03 GMT  ·  By

Google has wrapped up yet another stable release of its open source browser, taking Chrome all the way up to version 12.0. Windows, Mac OS X and Linux users, which the search giant reveals have reached the 160 million mark, can now download Chrome 12 through the Stable Channel.

What customers will get is Chrome 12.0.742.91, with a few new features and enhancements designed to make the browser more secure and better equipped at handling user information and web projects sporting 3D CSS.

“This release includes support for hardware-accelerated 3D CSS, which means you’ll get a snazzier experience in some web pages and web apps that choose to implement 3D effects,” noted Adrienne Walker, Chrome Software Engineer.

As of Chrome 12.0.742.91 Stable, users will be able to better control the information that is stored on their local machines when visiting third-party websites, including Flash Local Shared Objects (LSOs).

“We’ve worked closely with Adobe to integrate Flash LSO deletion directly into Chrome, making it easier for you to manage your online privacy,” Walker added.

Improvements to the open source browser’s Safe Browsing technology make sure that users are better protected even when visiting malicious websites or dealing with malformed downloads.

“In addition to protecting you from certain malware and phishing websites, Chrome now warns you before downloading some types of malicious files. We’ve carefully designed this feature so that malicious content can be detected without Chrome or Google ever having to know about the URLs you visit or the files you download,” Walker said.

Most importantly, the latest Stable release of Chrome introduces patches for multiple vulnerabilities, making it imperative that end users apply the upgrade as soon as possible in order to stay safe from potential attacks.

In addition to Chrome 12.0.742.91 Stable, early adopters can also download Chrome 12.0.742.91 Beta, released just a day before.

Testers can even grab Chrome 13.0.782.11 through the Dev Channel and take it out for a spin. “This release contains a number of UI tweaks and stabilities fixes,” revealed Anthony Laforge, from the Google Chrome team.

Of course, considering the rapid release pace of Google’s open source browser, Chrome 13.0 will move to Beta while Chrome 14.0 will graduate to Dev soon.

Google Chrome for Windows is available for download here.

Google Chrome for Linux is available for download here.

Google Chrome for Mac is available for download here.