Google has released an update to the 3.0 version of its own breed of open-source browser through the development channel. In less than a year since it released Chrome 1.0, the search giant managed to take the browser all the way to version 3.0. Of course that only the 2.0 flavor is considered stable, with 3.0 still in development. But since earlier this week developers are able to download and install Google Chrome 3.0.191.3. The version, available exclusively through the Developer Channel, is designed to play nice with Windows, Linux and Mac.

“Highlights in this release: animated GIFs fixed. Extensions changes, see Dev Channel Visible Changes post to the Chromium-Extensions mailing list. Printing fixes for Windows. Try out the New New Tab Page by using the command line switch – new-new-tab-page. Don't wait for the new new new tab page, get yours today! Linux now supports IME for non-roman script languages. Fixes for misbehaving proxy servers. "Save As" now available on Mac,” revealed Jonathan Conradt, engineering program manager, Google Chrome.

But while it is working on the evolution of Chrome, the Mountain View search giant admitted that it was also developing an operating system designed as an extension of the browser. Sundar Pichai, VP, Product Management, and Linus Upson, engineering director, announced Google Chrome Operating System, a platform initially aimed for netbooks powered by x86 and ARM processors that will serve to run Chrome and Cloud applications. Google Chrome OS is expected to be available to the public in the second half of 2010, with the company planning to offer the source code to the open-source community later this year.

As far as Google Chrome 3.0.191.3 is concerned, there are some issues testers need to be aware of: “(Mac) Google docs: shortcut to save a document (Command+S) is not implemented; (Linux) Bookmarks bar context menus disabled on first open of bookmark manager; (Linux) Bookmarks that do not fit in the bookmarks bar cannot be accessed; Thumbnails on New Tab Page don't have spacing in between,” Conradt explained.

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