14 DAY TRIAL // If you’re in the market for a browser and you haven’t yet tried Google Chrome, this is the right moment to do it because the Mountain View-based search company has just released a new version of the app that comes not only to make it more secure and reliable, but also to improve performance on all supported platforms, including Windows.
Google Chrome 38 doesn’t bring any visual improvements, so after launching the update browser, everything should look like just like on the previous releases.
And still, Google Chrome engineer Matthew Yuan says in a blog post that this fresh Chrome version comes with “a number of new apps/extension APIs,” but also with “lots of under the hood changes for stability and performance.”
At first glance, however, the app seems to be just as fast as before, but the developing team most likely tried to fix all bugs and issues that were reported by users in the last few weeks.
Available on all supported desktop platforms
Google Chrome 38 is shipped to all supported desktop platforms with the help of the built-in update engine which automatically delivers new builds to computers running the browser.
As a result, the new Chrome 38 can be downloaded on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X starting this morning, but most installations should be updated automatically later today.
Of course, Google recommends users to switch to this new release as soon as possible, explaining that the number of security improvements it brings is quite critical in order to make sure that no exploits and hacks could be used against them.
Still the world’s number one browser
Despite tough competition from other browsers, Google Chrome continues to be the number one app in this category, with statistics revealing that it’s far ahead of rivals Internet Explorer and Firefox.
For example, market researcher StatCounter claims that in September 2014 Google Chrome was installed on 49.18 percent of the desktop computers worldwide, while Internet Explorer came second with 22.62 percent. Firefox is third with 19.25 percent.
As a result, all these new released that Google provides users with on a regular basis are really important for everyone running Chrome, especially because they bring performance and stability improvements.
Internet Explorer, on the other hand, is becoming a fiercer rival for Google Chrome, as Microsoft is working on a revamped version of the browser which could come with a new UI, but also with extension support to improve functionality on all platforms. The next Microsoft browser, which could be called Internet Explorer 12, is expected to launch in spring 2015 with Windows 10.
