14 DAY TRIAL // When it is not busy talking to the FCC, Google also works on its Chrome web browser, which has been updated again, for developers. The Mountain View-based search giant has issued a dev channel update for all supported platforms. Mac-specific tweaks and enhancements are also listed. You can learn more about these changes in the paragraphs to follow.
Listing the changes for all platforms (Mac, Linux and Windows), Google claims to have fixed a bug that prevented some Dailymotion videos from playing while improving New Tab page load performance. The new version ensures that tips change when the Chrome language changes. On the Windows side only, Chrome 4.0.211.2 adds bug fixes in the NewFTP area.
Mac OS X changes include a fix for hangs when importing stuff from Firefox, the addition of SSL icons, and the implementation of a search-engine manager, as well as the following improvements:
- Allow windows with a single tab to be merged into other windows with drag and drop. - Allow Snow Leopard systems to connect to certain IPv6-enabled web sites when only IPv4 is available. - Prevent a sad tab when loading certain images on Snow Leopard. Don't show "Google Chrome did not shut down properly" when quit from the Dock, logout, restart, or shut down.
Linux users can now make the bookmark toolbar folders act like a menu bar, while the Bookmark bar shows a menu on too many bookmarks. Google also implemented an external protocol handler dialog (e.g. for aim: URLs), a fix for a crash when closing tabs that had open login prompts and a workaround for a Flash crash that mostly affected Gentoo users. Extensions can now register page actions, this being the last Linux change listed in the release notes.
As far as Extensions are concerned, Google lists the following changes: enable/disable extension button on chrome://extensions; update extensions button now to force autoupdate check on chrome://extensions; chrome.window and chrome.tab APIs can now reference relative URLs inside an extension.
A couple of known issues are also acknowledged by the maker of the Chrome web browser, one of which affects all platforms – large files do not download completely. A Linux-only bug still awaiting a fix is Chrome’s inability to set itself as the default browser in GNOME.
Download Google Chrome for Mac OS X (Free)
NOTE
Google Chrome 4.0.211.2 is not appropriate for general-consumer use. Several standard-browser features are unavailable at this time, while the app itself is not 100% reliable. Download Google Chrome "only if you are a developer or take great pleasure in incomplete, unpredictable, and potentially crashing software," the team of developers responsible with the web browser warns.