News

Google updates Chrome browser

Browser wars continue as Google's Chrome gets an update.

18 Mar 2009

Google's Chrome browser has seen its first major update since its release last year, claiming the next version's beta is twice as fast as the original.

In the new Chrome blog, product manager Brian Rakowski said: "The best thing about this new beta is speed it's 25 per cent faster on our V8 benchmark and 35 per cent faster on the Sunspider benchmark than the current stable channel version and almost twice as fast when compared to our original beta version."

Other new features now on offer include form autofill, zooming and autoscroll, in addition to side-by-side viewing of pages.

The new beta adds a third string to the Chrome rlease channel, alongside the developer and so-called "stable" releases, in order for Google to get more feedback.

"Riding the beta channel is a great way to let us know about what's working and what's not, but don't be surprised to find some rough edges. Also, if you're looking for an even earlier (and rougher) sneak preview of things to come, you can always move to the developer channel," Rakowski wrote.

He added that new features will be released as they're finished, rather than being saved up for major updates.

According to the latest figures from Net Applications, Chrome holds just over one per cent of the overall browser market, trailing behind Microsoft's Internet Explorer at 67 per cent, Mozilla's Firefox at 22 per cent and Apple's Safari at eight per cent.

Click here to read our battle of the browser betas, where we compare Firefox, IE, Safari and Chrome. And if none of those catch your fancy, check out our list of alternative browsers.