14 DAY TRIAL // Google has launched the final version of Chrome 9.0 for all supported platforms, including Mac OS X, bringing a number of enhancements, including Mac-specific security tweaks. A new Developer version of Chrome for Mac, Windows, and Linux is also available for download.
“The stable channel has been updated to 9.0.597.84 for all platforms,” Anthony Laforge, Google Chrome program manager said.
“Details about the features included in this release can be found on the Google Chrome Blog,” Laforge added.
According to Erik Kay and Aaron Boodman (Google Chrome Software Engineers), Chrome 9.0 Final gains “a dash of speed, 3D and apps.”
Anthony’s post continues with a list of security fixes and the rewards they earned their respective discoverers.
“In addition, we would like to thank Aki Helin, Sergey Glazunov, Ben Hawkes of the Google Security Team, Benoit Jacob, Simon Fraser and miaubiz for reporting bugs to us during the development cycle, so that they never affected the stable channel,” Laforge concludes.
As noted above, the Chrome Dev channel has been updated as well. Now at version 10.0.648.18 for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux, the new release updates the V8 engine to version 3.0.12.8.
On the Mac side, the Chrome 10.0.648.18 Dev release fixes a bug where web text input would sometimes trigger find-in-page.
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.