Jan 6, 2011 08:42 GMT  ·  By

Google has released new builds of its WebKit-powered Chrome browser for all supported platforms, including Mac OS X. The new version, 9.0.597.44 Beta temporarily moves Flash Player sandboxing behind a flag. Google Chrome is a light-weight web browser based on the WebKit layout engine, a trait also common to Apple’s Safari browser.

Anthony Laforge, Google Chrome program manager, announces on the Google Chrome Releases blog that “The Beta channel has been updated to 9.0.597.44 for Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome Frame.”

The only change worth documenting is the Flash Player sandboxing being temporarily moved behind a flag - users must add the option themselves, should they need it.

“Flash Player sandboxing has been temporarily moved behind a flag --enable-flash-sandbox.”

As usual, “If you find new issues, please let us know by filing a bug at http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/entry,” LaForge concludes.

Google Chrome 9.0.597.44 Beta comes a mere day after the last beta build was released for Mac - 9.0.597.42 - with no documented changes.

In tandem with the current Chrome 9.0.597.44 Beta release, Google also rolled out version 10.0.628.0 on the Dev channel for Windows and Linux.

The release fixes several crashes and small issues, and is expected to arrive for Mac OS X in the following days.

Google Chrome requires Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and an Intel-based Mac.

Download Google Chrome for Mac OS X (Free)

A note about Google Chrome release channels and updates

Chrome boasts a release system with three distinct channels: Stable, Beta, and Developer preview, called the "Dev" channel.

The Stable channel is updated with features and fixes only after they are thoroughly tested in the Beta channel, while the Beta channel is being updated with stable and complete features from the Dev channel, where ideas get tested.