May 10, 2011 14:55 GMT  ·  By

Chrome 12 was just promoted to the beta channel and features warnings for malicious downloads, as well as the ability to clear Flash cookies via the interface.

The malicious download warnings are generated using information from Google Safe Browsing, a service that aggregates malicious URL intelligence from various sources.

The data is already being used by Google to flag dangerous search results and block infected URLs in Chrome and is also offered for free to third parties through a public API.

The new Chrome 12 feature alerts users that a file is potentially malicious when it is being served from an URL present on the Safe Browsing blacklist.

Users will have the option to discard the file or continue to download at their own risk. Google will not keep records of what download URLs users tried to access.

The service will notify webmasters of malicious downloads blocked from their websites, if they have them registered in the Google Webmaster Tools.

The new Chrome 12.0.742.30 beta also  brings a few other features, including the ability to remove Flash Local Shared Objects (LSOs) directly from the browser interface.

LSOs represent an alternative storage location outside the browser which can be used by websites to store information. There have been cases when LSO were abused to track users or restore deleted HTTP cookies.

Other Chrome 12 features include hardware accelerated 3D CSS, the ability to launch Apps by name from the Omnibox, the integration of Sync into the new settings pages, improved screen reader support and a new warning when hitting Command-Q on Mac. In addition, Google Gears has been removed.

Chrome 12 stable is expected to land in four to five weeks. Until then, the beta version can be downloaded from here.