Google Chrome 13 Has Better Greasemonkey Support, Proxy API for Extensions

Google is showcasing some of the new under-the-hood features and capabilities of Google Chrome 13, which is now in beta. The latest Chrome beta adds better support for Greasemonkey scripts, or userscrips as they are also known, making it easier for developers to implement certain features and also paving the way for some functionality which was not available in the Chrome implementation.

There is also a new API for extensions which enables developers to control the proxy settings in Google Chrome.

"You can now make cross-origin XMLHttpRequest calls with the privileges of the extension directly from your content script. You will no longer need to relay these requests through a background page; this should simplify your code," Google engineers, Tessa MacDuff and Mihai Parparita, wrote about one of the new features related to Greasemonkey script support.

"This also means that Greasemonkey scripts that use GM_xmlhttpRequest - such as the classic Book Burro - will now work in Chrome," they added.

Google Chrome has native support for Greasemonkey scripts, it's the only browser to do so in an user-friendly manner. You need the Greasemonkey add-on for Firefox.

This makes sense since the creator of the Greasemonkey Firefox add-on works for Google.

However, the implementation was not identical to the Firefox version, understandable, browsers frequently implement standards-based features in slightly different ways.

Another update for Greasemonkey scripts is an improvement on how match patterns work, enabling developers to indicate the pages where the script should not activate.

The final Greasemonkey-related update is support for the @run-at command.

"We’ve been working hard to allow extensions to manage Chrome’s proxy settings using different configuration options," Google explained.

"With the Proxy Extension API, you can now configure proxy settings by choosing from several options including auto detection, the host OS’s system default, PAC scripts or fixed ProxyRules," it added.

Already, developers have created extensions that leverage the new API, you can find them in the Chrome Web Store, search for anything with "proxy" in its title.