Oct 1, 2010 13:55 GMT  ·  By

The first Google Chrome 7 Beta has just been released, but Chrome users should be much more excited about the latest dev channel release instead. Hold up for a few weeks while preparing the beta, Google Chrome 7.0.536.2 has been pushed to the dev channel and it was well worth the wait.

The latest dev channel release comes with quite a few interesting new features, though many are still experimental.

Chrome dev now has much better hardware acceleration enabled by default. Native 3D graphics get a boost as well with WebGL enabled by default. Finally, a number of new Labs goodies have been added as well.

"The Dev channel has been updated to 7.0.536.2 for Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome Frame," Google Chrome's, Karen Grunberg, announced.

Fixes and new features in Google Chrome 7.0.536.2 dev:

- Fixed saving passwords containing non-ASCII characters; - Accelerated compositing and support for 3D CSS transforms enabled by default; - WebGL support enabled by default; - Regression fix: keep the download shelf visible when multiple sites are saved; - Add a lab for the Page Info Bubble for Windows and Linux; Mac coming shortly.

There are a number of platform specific changes and fixes as well.

The big new features in the latest dev release are obviously hardware acceleration of 2D content, more steps are now accelerated by default than before, and WebGL.

With full hardware support for 2D and 3D graphics, the browser should feel a lot faster and would be able to handle a lot more than current web pages or web apps throw at it. But, especially for WebGL, the features aren't exactly a must-have for today's web.

However, other new features make a much bigger impact right now, notably the Chrome Instant feature now available in Chrome Labs on Windows.

While the implementation still needs some work, the feature is shaping up nicely. You can expect that by the time of the next Chrome beta release, Instant will be fully functioning, not just for Google searches, but for every page out there.

The first Google Chrome 7 beta may be out, but most Chrome fans should really be looking forward for the second major beta, or perhaps the first Chrome 8 beta which should be landing in early November, just in time for the Chrome Web Store and Chrome OS.
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.