Mountain View, California — Google has moved the latest version of Chrome 5 for Windows out of beta and also announced stable versions of Chrome for Mac and Linux, and upgraded the browser for the first time withmany new features and speed, since launching the Web browser’s fifth revision in less than two years.
The latest Windows version operates JavaScript 30% to 35% faster than the earlier version, according to Google. The new stable release for Mac and Linux empowers users to synchronize bookmarks and browser preferences across multiple computers and platforms so consumers can feel at home no matter which machine they work on. Preferences include color themes, homepage, startup settings, Web content settings and page zoom settings.
According to threatpost.com, the release also resolves “at least two ‘high risk’ vulnerabilities and several security-related denial-of-service crashes.”
“Our stable release also combines HTML5 features such as Geolocation APIs, App Cache, web sockets, and file drag-and-drop,” wrote Google on its Chrome blog on May 25.
The browser also offers several HTML5-based features, gains lots of attention recently as the centerpiece of an ongoing dispute between Apple and Adobe, which includes geolocation APIs, App Cache, Web sockets, and attachment drag-and-drop in Gmail. Although Adobe’s Flash player was integrated into the development versions of Chrome 5, it has been touch-and-go in the beta versions and has not yet made it to the stable release of Chrome 5. The developer’s version is now on version 6.
Apple has refused to support Flash on the iPhone or iPad.
“For a taste of HTML5’s powerful features, try browsing through websites developed in HTML5 such as scribd.com, dragging and dropping attachments in Gmail, or by enabling the geolocation functionality in Google Maps. We have also given Chrome’s bookmark manager a facelift with HTML5.”
According to data released by NetMarketShare in April, Chrome had a market share of around 6.73 percent, while rival browsers IE (59.95%) Firefox (24.59%), Safari (4.72%) and Opera (2.30%) joined Chrome in the list of top five most used browsers. The latest release is now available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, Chrome v5.0.375.55 includes support for extensions and themes, improved bookmark management and synchronization, browser preferences syncing, and the most recent stable updates to Chrome’s trailblazing JavaScript engine, V8.
In case you were wondering just how fast Google Chrome is, this video explains it all: