14 DAY TRIAL // The first builds of Chrome 10.0 are out through the Developer channel, with Google listing V8 and WebKit updates as the universal enhancements across all versions of the browser - Mac, Windows, Linux - as well as Mac specific changes, such as tweaks to the tab overview mode, experimental popup blocker animation, and more.
Via a post on the official Google Chrome Releases blog, Karen Grunberg reveals that “the Dev channel has been updated to 10.0.612.1 for Mac, Windows and Linux,” with fixes for several crashes as well as other improvements.
For all platforms, Chrome developers have updated V8, the JavaScript virtual machine used in Google Chrome, to version 3.0.2.1.
The WebKit layout engine is now at version 534.15 across all supported platforms.
For Windows users in particular, “Google Cloud Print sign-in interface is now out from behind a flag and can be found in Under the Hood,” according to the changelog.
Mac specific enhancements include various minor tweaks to the tab overview mode, 25% less logspew when loading the PDF plugin, sandboxing the GPU process, and experimental popup blocker animation.
A bug fix targeting Mac OS X builds of the browser is also listed: “fix stuck hover state in bookmark button.”
Finally, Google notes a couple of issues that are yet to be addressed:
Known Issues
- There is no space between the Apps- and the Most Visited-Sector - The expanded Apps-Sector becomes unvisible after clicking on it
As usual, more details about additional changes are available in the log of all revisions. Mac users can download the newest versions of Chrome (Dev, Beta, Stable) via the link below.
Google Chrome requires Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and an Intel-based Mac.
Download Google Chrome for Mac OS X (Free)
Update: Apparently Chrome is suffering from an issue with the built-in software update mechanism, where Chrome 10.0 is not handed upon checking for new updates.
Until this bug is addressed, to update to Chrome 10, users must download the standalone application and drag in in their application folder, overwring the existing Chrome build.
A note about Google Chrome release channels and updates
Chrome boasts a release system with three distinct channels: Stable, Beta, and Developer preview, called the "Dev" channel.
The Stable channel is updated with features and fixes only after they are thoroughly tested in the Beta channel, while the Beta channel is being updated with stable and complete features from the Dev channel, where ideas get tested.