Though Linux users could test the popular browser for a couple of months through unofficial Chromium builds, yesterday, June 4th, Google
announced the first official release of Google Chrome for Linux. The version 3.0.183.1 is still very unstable and lacks a lot of features that are otherwise present in the Windows package.
One of Chrome's main advantages over other web browsers is the way it handles tabs as separate processes. Why is this important? Well, if a web page crashes, it doesn't take the whole browser with it, but only the tab it was opened in, significantly increasing overall stability.
Also, Google Chrome makes browsing more efficient and ergonomic by placing modules on each new tab that you open. Instead of having a blank page, you will now have six thumbnails displaying the most visited webpages, a history search bar and even the last three closed tabs. Do not worry though, as this customized page will open just as fast as an empty one.
The Google Chrome interface is simple and clean, allowing websites to benefit from the increased screen space. The tab bar is placed on top of the multi-functional main address bar, rather than below it, as we see in most browsers. Why multi-functional? Because you can not only direct Chrome to a certain address, but also perform history or Internet searches.
Another exciting feature of Google's browser is the Incognito mode. Available through the settings menu or by using the CTRL+Shift+N shortcut, this private browsing method will make sure no traces of your Internet activity (history, cookies, etc.) are left on the computer.
In the end, a few words and a warning from Mike Smith and Karen Grunberg, product managers for Google Chrome:
"In order to get more feedback from developers, we have early developer channel versions of Google Chrome for Mac OS X and Linux, but whatever you do, please DON'T DOWNLOAD THEM! Unless of course you are a developer or take great pleasure in incomplete, unpredictable, and potentially crashing software.[...] Meanwhile, we'll get back to trying to get Google Chrome on these platforms stable enough for a beta release as soon as possible!" Seeing how fast Chrome evolved on the Windows platform, we should expect speedy releases from this point onwards.
Download Google Chrome 3.0.183.1 for Linux right now from
Softpedia.
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