14 DAY TRIAL // Google has wrapped up Chrome 9.0 and made Build 9.0.597.84 available for download through the Stable Channel to Windows, Mac OS X and Linux users. For the past weeks I have been telling you that the Mountain View-based search giant was fine-tuning Chrome 9.0, gearing up for the moment when the latest major iteration of Chrome would graduate from the Beta to the Stable channel.
Chrome 9.0.597.84 Final brings to end users a few new features that Google has been testing through the Beta releases, including WebGL, Chrome Instant, and the Chrome Web Store.
Aaron Boodman, Google Software Engineer highlighted the new Chrome 9.0 features detailing them for users:
“WebGL is a new technology which brings hardware-accelerated 3D graphics to the browser. With WebGL in Chrome, you can experience rich 3D experiences right inside the browser with no need for additional software. Curious about the three-dimensional possibilities?
"With Chrome Instant (à la Google Instant), web pages that you frequently visit will begin loading as soon as you start typing the URL. (“Look, Mom - no enter key!”). If supported by your default search engine, search results appear instantly as you type queries in the omnibox. To try out Instant, you’ll need to enable it in the Basics tab of Chrome’s options.
“Lastly, the Chrome Web Store is now open to all Chrome users in the United States. As part of this, we’ve now added a link to the Chrome Web Store on the New Tab page, along with two sample apps. (If you don’t use these sample apps, they will automatically disappear after some time).”
In addition, Chrome 9.0 Final introduces a number of security fixes. In this regard, end users still running Chrome 8.0 are advised to upgrade as soon as possible in order to ensure that vulnerabilities affecting the predecessor of version 9.0 are patched.
But even though Chrome 9.0 is now offered to all end users, the latest release of Chrome 10.0 is still served through the Dev Channel.
Despite this, early adopters testing the browser can expect a Beta development milestone of Chrome 10.0 to be made available for download soon enough.
For the time being, Chrome 10.0.648.18 Dev offers an “updated V8 - 3.0.12.8; removed icon from View Background Pages menu item in wrench menu; fixed crash on closing Download Manager; auto-scroll while drag and dropping apps on the New Tab Page; and webNavigation extension API ready for testing,” revealed Jason Kersey, from the Google Chrome team.
Early adopters can also expect Chrome 11.0 to make it to the Dev Channel, most probably around the same time when Chrome 10.0 graduates to Beta.
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.
