14 DAY TRIAL // While Chrome OS' launch date is not that clear at this point, a number of features associated with the upcoming operating system have been trickling into Google Chrome - the browser recently. For example, a feature that is a natural for Chrome OS but is very interesting for a browser is support for multiple, concomitant profiles.
According to a Chromium design document, uncovered by the unofficial Google Operating System blog, multiple profiles will be included in Google Chrome on all three supported platforms, Windows, Linux and Mac.
"The multiple profiles feature will allow the user to associate a profile with a specific set of browser windows, rather than with an entire running instance of Chrome," the design document reads.
"Allowing different windows to run as different Chrome identities means that a user can have different open windows associated with different Google accounts, and correspondingly different sets of preferences, apps, bookmarks, and so on -- all those elements which are bound to a specific user's identity," it continues.
In practical terms, it will enable users to use several sets of accounts simultaneously. For example, they could use a couple of Yahoo accounts active in different browser windows.
The functionality will be built into the browser and will not depend on any support from the websites. Chrome will just store several complete user profiles and will allow users to switch between them on the fly.
Users will be able to create and manage new profiles in the preferences dialog. They will then be able to switch between them using a dedicated, color-coded button in the titlebar. On Macs, the button will be in the menu bar, but the functionality will be the same.
Different profiles will co-exist in separate browser windows. Each new tab in a window will use the profile associated with that window. Users won't be able to move tabs between different profile windows, for obvious reasons.
The sync features will also work independently and they can be enabled and disabled on a case-by-case basis. While multiple profiles are most likely coming to Google Chrome, it's hard to estimate when they will be available to users.