14 DAY TRIAL // A new testing release of the next major iteration of Google Chrome is now available for download, as the Mountain View-based search giant is focusing on wrapping up the successor of version 8.0. Chrome 9.0.597.67 Beta has been offered to early adopters testing the open source browser on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. At the same time, Chrome Frame Beta is also up to Build 9.0.597.67.
Testers can grab Chrome 9.0.597.67 through the Beta Channel , and they’re bound to notice that some of the changes made by Google at the start of this year to the Beta Build, then reverted, are now back.
Specifically, Flash Player sandboxing has been put behind a flag. Google notes that the decision affects version 9.0 of Chrome.
It appears that the move was considered necessary due to the stability issues that the Mountain View-based search giant has struggled with in Chrome 9.0 Beta so far.
Google did not specify exactly what problems are impacting Flash Player sandboxing, but this isn’t the first time this year that the company disabled the feature.
Chrome 9.0.597.44 Beta was the first to ship with Flash Player sandboxing switched off in early January 2011.
As users must know, Google decided to integrate Adobe Flash in the fabric of Chrome. For security reasons, the technology is sandboxed, with Google integrating a layer of protection to fend off attacks and exploits targeting Flash vulnerabilities.
Flash Player sandboxing was restored almost immediately after it was turned off in Chrome 9.0 Beta, only to be disabled yet again now.
Testers that want to enable the feature need to add “--enable-flash-sandbox” minus the inverted commas to the Target field in the Properties dialog box for Chrome 9.0 Beta. But they are advised that doing so is bound to decrease the reliability of the browser.
Other features that have also been placed behind flags, such as accelerated composting and WebGL are both enabled by default.
Google revealed that the vast majority of changes introduced in Chrome 9.0.597.67 Beta are in fact bug and stability fixes.
Google Chrome for Windows is available for download here.
Google Chrome for Linux is available for download here.
Google Chrome for Mac is available for download here.