Google Chrome 5.0 Stable Released,Download Now

Google has released 5.0 version of its web browser "Chrome". Here is what the Official Google Blogsays:

After a bit of evolution and lots of work from the team, we're thrilled to introduce a new stable version of Chrome for Windows, Mac and Linux. Since last December, we’ve been chipping away at bugs and building in new features to get the Mac and Linux versions caught up with the Windows version, and now we can finally announce that the Mac and Linux versions are ready for prime time.

The performance bar for all three versions keeps getting higher: today’s new stable release for Windows, Mac and Linux is our fastest yet, incorporating one of our most significant speed improvements to date. We’ve improved by 213 percent and 305 percent in Javascript performance by the V8 and SunSpider benchmarks since our very first beta, back in Chrome’s Cretaceous period (September 2008).

Today’s new stable release comes with a few new features, including the ability to synchronize browser preferences across computers, new HTML5 capabilities and a revamped bookmark manager.

You can download the new version using following link:

Download Google Chrome 5.0

Google Chrome - will be the default browser in Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Netbook Edition

The Opensource Chromium browser - the base behind Google Chrome - will be the default browser in Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Netbook Edition - at least until Alpha3.

The decision, taken today in the Default Netbook App Selection session at the Ubuntu Developer Summit, was based on a variety of reasons not least of which favoured the good code base, upstream maintenance and the browser speed. The wide plugin base and the flexibility of webkit were also seen as plus.

Issues raised concerning Chromium's non-native look, lack of support for native scrollbars and issues with printing will lead the Netbook team to decide, by Alpha 3, whether or not it will remain default for the full cycle. One area that will certainly need consideration will be compatability with the new global menu bar coming in the netbook edition.
During the discussion other alternative browsers mooted were Midori - which was praised for its speed and active development but untimely rejected due to lack of user awareness and the surging popularity of Chromium

First Google Android netbook ships with Firefox, not Chrome!

The Acer Aspire AOD250 netbook running Google Android

A few days before the launch of Windows 7, Acer has released the first netbook to ship with the Google Android operating system. And a juicy tidbit has come out of an early review: Android comes with Mozilla Firefox for Web browsing, not Google’s own Chrome browser or the Android browser that comes on mobile phones.

 

Google has previously announced its intentions to get into the netbook game with Chrome OS, but with Android’s ready availability, it was always going to be first onto machines. Acer had said that it wanted to get Android onto its netbooks soon, and last week, the company launched the popular 10-inch AOD250 mini-laptop for this purpose. Full specifications and features can be found here.

 

However, the AOD250 isn’t solely an Android device. Acer has included the option of dual-booting into Windows XP – a much-needed option, according to a review of the new system by PC Mag.

 

“What looks like a peel-off tab on the top left corner gets you back into WindowsXP, in case frustration builds—and it will,” writes reviewer Cisco Cheng.

 

By all accounts of the review, Android for netbooks appears to be half-baked as of now. The home screen has four gadgets (Google Talk, FireFox, Webmail, and Calendar), while a further 20 are housed in a slide-out tab on the far right (including system settings, multimedia, Webcam, Gmail).

 

With no Android Marketplace available, there is no document editing program available. So even if send or receive emails with Word documents or spreadsheets, Android won’t recognise them.

 

And since Google has not yet come out with an official stable version of Chrome for Linux, the Android system still runs on Mozilla Firefox. Of course, using the default Android Web browser for cell phones would be quite inconvenient on a computer. The reviewer notes that while it handles most Web sites like any normal Windows version of Firefox would, sometimes, certain key commands wouldn't register in Google Search or Firefox.

 

“As with past Linux operating systems, the advantages of having one are for quicker boot times and better battery savings than Windows XP. Otherwise, Android for netbooks has a long way to go before it can work alone,” the review concludes.

Chrome OS browser leaks First Time On Net

Just days away from an event at Google where the company will reveal more about one of their rumored and now confirmed projects - Chrome OS, package files and pictures have leaked showing the operating system (or at least the browser part of it) running on top of a Ubuntu install with themes and a new logo.
The files that leaked were hosted on a public Google server, and were found by Living in a Google World earlier this week. The Operating System which is very unstable (as expected) was leaked for only a few hours, and then taken down - but not before some users got copies of the files.
The part of the Operating System we can see here, at this point, looks like the Linux variant of Chrome, but with new universal themes and a new logo - that when clicked sends you to Google Short Links (which we don't know about either) - but this requires a Google.com account, which are reserved for Google Employees. At this point the "Chrome OS" is actually running on top of Ubuntu.
In addition to this, on Thursday night Google is hosting an event to reveal more about the Operating System and other emerging Google technologies. This recent invite was sent out to some bloggers:
"Join us for an evening at Google featuring presentations by Paul Rademacher on Google Maps and Ben Goodger on Chrome OS. Presentations will be followed by a short Q&A. Once the formalities have finished there will be further opportunity to meet and mingle with other attendees as well as Googlers from Chrome/ChromeOS, Maps, GMail and Search. Oh, and of course there will be plenty of food and beverages for everyone. We hope to see you there!"
Not much else is known about the Operating System at the moment, but Chrome OS is expected to be a very bare-bones OS, relying on the cloud for most of it's operations (for obvious reasons).

Screenshots:

Google Chrome 30% Faster Than Firefox

Back in 2004 when Firefox 1.0 was launched, I loved having a browser that was different to what everyone else was using that was also so much better than the norm.  I consider Firefox now to be a mainstream browser and hence no longer the cool kid on the block.

I’ve been using Google Chrome as my main browser now for around 9 months and not only do I love it, but it’s also in my opinion the best browser on the market.  It’s key selling point for many is it’s speed; according to Computerworld Chrome 3.0 is 30% faster than Firefox.  However, Chrome’s interface speed also sets it apart – I can open multiple Chrome tabs and start working before Firefox has even initialised.

I’m an Apple iPhone 3GS user now after 6 years of Symbian/Windows Mobile based devices.  However, I recently got the chance to play with an HTC Hero and for me Android is looking like it will eventually win the mobile OS battle, at least from a technical and functional superiority perspective, as getting users to ditch their iPhones will be a very hard thing to do.  I can’t wait to get my hands on Google OS to play with which will combine and extend the best bits of Google Android and Chrome.  Given that I spend most of my PC time online, an OS that tightly integrates my favourite browser Google Chrome would be a winner for me.