14 DAY TRIAL // Google has rolled out a new beta build of its Chrome web browser for Mac, Windows and Linux, posting a nearly identical set of release notes for the incremental update superseding the previous beta release.
According to Jason Kersey blogging for Google, “The Chrome Beta channel has been updated to 12.0.742.60 for all platforms,” which includes Macintosh systems.
“This release contains a number of UI tweaks and performance fixes,” Kersey notes, exactly as Google did when Chrome 12.0.742.53 Beta was released, indicating there’s a good chance the software is going Stable this week.
However, those eager to learn the specifics of an update can always visit the SVN revision log.
As the developers patch it up and prep it for the Stable (Final) release, development is going smoothly on the Dev channel, now at version 13.0.
This, of course, is yet another clue that Chrome 12 Stable is just around the corner, not only for Mac users, but Windows and Linux PC customers as well.
A noteworthy omission in supported platforms is Ubuntu Hardy which, as of Chrome 13.0.767.1, will no longer be supported.
“We are discontinuing support for Ubuntu Hardy for 13.0, in effect matching that Ubuntu has officially stopped supporting Hardy (including stopping security updates) as of May 12th, 2011,” Google's Anthony Laforge wrote earlier this week.
It is unknown whether Google developers will make efforts to re-enable compatibility between Chrome and this particular Linux distribution.
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The Stable channel remains at version 11.0, which can also be downloaded from Softpedia.
For Macintosh, Google Chrome requires an Intel-based machine running OS X 10.5 Leopard with 128MB of RAM and roughly 100MB of available disk space.
Those looking to stay on the very edge can also try Chrome Canary, the most alpha-grade version of the browser they’ll find on the web. In it, features come and go, while bugs are a common sight.