The Google Chrome Team has announced that a new version of its new web browser is now available for those testing it on Mac OS X, Linux and Windows. The update is free to download right here on Softpedia.

“[Chrome] 3.0.196.2 has been release[d] which contains only a single change that reverts the tab focus experiment. 3.0.196.0 has been released to the dev channel with the following changes,” the Google Chrome Team says on the Google Chrome Releases web page.

For all platforms, Chrome 3.0.196.0 contains crash fixes. For Windows users, the mouse cursor no longer flickers over the omnibox and other editable controls. Additionally, disconnecting a monitor and restarting Google Chrome no longer leaves windows off in space and impossible to access, the team claims.

On the Linux side, Google Chrome now respects the system font hinting/antialiasing setting, the changelog reveals. The team also added a password manager dialog (Options -> Personal -> Show Saved Passwords) and fixed an issue where scrolling a long page by dragging the scrollbar would lag significantly. Lastly, for Linux users, dragging a tab off and dropping it puts the dropped window where you dropped it.

On the platform that interests you the most (Mac), the Google Chrome Team is happy to announce that trackpad scrolling on maps now works again. A “first stab” has been made at the history menu, while the download shelf now has real download items. “Lots of polish bugs” were incorporated as well, the team says. Extension changes include:

- Introduce moles! These are a new extra area that can pop up above toolstrips.
- Themes now work with --load-extension.
- You can now reload extensions from a button on chrome://extensions.
- Fix bug where bookmarks.getTree() doesn't return any bookmarks.
- Minimum auto-update frequency from command line is now 30 seconds.
- (Re-)enable content scripts executing in isolated worlds.

Download Google Chrome for Mac OS X (Free)

Note: This release is not appropriate for general consumer use. Several features, such as bookmarks password import and certain privacy features, are unavailable at this time. DOWNLOAD THIS only if you are a developer or take great pleasure in incomplete, unpredictable, and potentially crashing software.