14 DAY TRIAL // Google is not in any rush to adapt its open-source browser to the latest iteration of the Windows client. While Mozilla has already tailored the first Beta development milestone of Firefox 3.6 to Windows 7, the Mountain View-based search giant will not make the current Stable and Beta development milestones play nice with Windows Vista’s successor. And apparently, the next version of Chrome, currently served to testers and early adopters through the dev channel, will also give Windows 7 the cold shoulder. It will be only with the availability of Google Chrome 5 that Google will embrace Windows 7.
The search giant’s issue-tracking system for Google Chrome indicates that the integration of the open-source browser with Windows 7 is not a development priority. According to The Register, Google is only considering tailoring Google Chrome to Windows 7 when it will start building the fifth version of the open-source browser.
Early adopters of Windows 7 have already been able to take advantage of the intimate integration between Internet Explorer 8 and the features brought on by the evolution of Windows Aero. Mozilla is right on track to allowing users of Firefox 3.6 to use Taskbar Thumbnail Previews, Aero Peek and Jumplists, along with additional enhancements of the new Windows 7 Superbar. It looks like the Mountain View-based search giant will allow its users to do the same only with Google Chrome 5.
On October 15th, Google made available Chrome 4.0.222.5 for Linux and Mac OS X. “This week's dev channel update includes quite a few bug fixes,” revealed Jonathan Conradt, engineering program manager. The latest development milestone of Chrome for Windows was also delivered yesterday, “Version 4.0.222.12 - Windows release corresponding to the 4.0.222.5 releases for Mac and Linux,” Conradt added.
The latest releases of Google Chrome are available for download here.