14 DAY TRIAL // This week early adopters that have jumped the gun and are already running pre-release versions of next generation browsers got a real treat. Not only did Opera Software push Opera 10.50 for Windows to Beta 2 stage, but Google released a Dev channel update for its open source browser. At this point in time, Google Chrome 5.0.335.0 is up for grabs for Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms via the Dev channel. At the same time, testers are in for a new release, by the end of the week, namely Firefox 3.7 Alpha 2 also known as Mozilla Developer Preview of Gecko 1.9.3 Alpha 2.
Anthony Laforge, from the Google Chrome team enumerated some of the changes that Build 5.0.335.0 brings to the table for Windows users, “Fix issues relating to new Content Settings functionality; fix a crash when installing an extension from incognito mode; fix star button theming; "Remove" and "remove all" buttons in cookie manager should not be enabled when nothing is selected.”
At the same time, there are a range of fixes implemented that affect all flavors of Google Chrome 5.0.335.0. users should, however, be aware of the fact that, despite the many fixes introduced by Google in this Build, Chrome 5.0.335.0 is still pre-release software and as such it comes with more inherent issues, some of which already known, and others yet to be discovered. Those that feel uncomfortable with running pre-release software, should stick with Chrome 4.0 which is the most stable and reliable versions of Google’s open source browser available.
Laforge detailed additional fixes including, “Support "cache-bypassing reload"; this is hooked to various accelerators on different platforms (e.g. shift-reload, ctrl-reload, etc.); when a single tab is open, "Close other tabs" context menu option should be grayed out; remove all infobars from a tab when its renderer crashes; fix crash adding/deleting bookmark/folder when browser sync is on and the network is not available; do not send extra blur and focus events if popup menu is showing; fix crash when dragging bookmarks.”
The latest release of Google Chrome 5.0 is available for download here.
Google Chrome 4.0 Stable is available for download here.