When companies make a new version of a software package, they always have to carefully consider what will be part of that version and what will be moved to the next version.
Google, in it’s process to create new versions of Chrome is no different. For version 6 a lot of stuff did not make the cut, but a lot of things did. So when you upgrade to Chrome 6 (when it is released) , you’ll have the following big features:
- Background image resampling – when resizing images on a page, this is done multicore from now , which will speed up page loads
- Synchronization of browser history – sync your history across multiple browsers
- Faster SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics)
- Extensions Sync – synchronize extensions across machines for the same user
- Consolidated menu button – page buttons and tool
One of the biggest features missing from Chrome 6 for the final release is the popular native client. This feature would enable applications in the browser to run as fast as they would on the local computer. Think of games and/or 3D applications. This has been pushed to 7 becuase of, among others, problems with the Mac OS X sandbox.
Another major feature missing is HTML 5 fullscreen video. HTML 5 video is poised to overthrow flash in the online streaming video arena, however this will take a few years yet. No need to hurry there.
All in all Chrome 6 will be an even better browser experience than we already have with 5, so I for one, can’t wait!
One of the great features Chrome is actually something that one should expect from any software; it’s light and not killing your computer because it uses tons and tons of memory. Although you would like any application in the world to have the same characteristics, Chrome has been very kind to my Macbook, unlike safari and, much worse, FF 3.
With the beta release of Firefox 4 something else can be seen; it’s fast, it’s not a hog anymore. It’s actually, dare I say it, nice. But not much more than that. For me it has been crashing during some tests so I’m not going to swap out my trusty Chrome just yet. Personally I had been a Firefox fan for years and it was hard for me to part with it; Chrome still has quirks I cannot really get used to. This new version seems to be a lot better than the previous ones and I got a feeling of nostalgia trying it.
New things include a better download manager, App Tabs (which is something like pinned tabs in Chrome) and easier working with images; all quite nice features. Especially the download manager is something which now is miles ahead of the one in Chrome.
We’ll write a shootout when the final version has been released. Until then; do you think you’ll try it or that you’ll even switch to it?
Google released a list of what they think are the coolest Chrome extensions. We thought to comment on a few of them and then, if you didn’t already, let you install them!
First of all, let me start with something I find one of the greatest inventions on internet today; TinEye. An online utility to find matching images to an image you provide to them. The way the tool works and the way it has been set up are very nicely done. And now you can use a Chrome Extension to wield it much faster than before. Look at this example using the tool with the Engadget site:
First you go to the site and then you click on the TinEye icon:
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The Chrome browser is seen as the safest browsers around. With it’s sandboxing technology and other protection strategies, it’s quite safe to browse the web with Chrome.
After the FireFox guys discovered a plugin that steals passwords, the world was shown another possibility hackers will try to exploit to get into your computer. Obviously people using plugins downloaded from the plugin directory managed by Mozilla themselves are expecting that these plugins are not malicious. They are ofcourse scanned by virus scanners and such before placement, but for a new ‘spyware’ this ofcourse cannot be full-proof unless all sourcecode of the plugin is read by a developer (which would cost too many hours).
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ABI Research reports that operating systems like Android and Chrome OS (meaning ofcourse the Linux kernel as well) will be dominant on non smart phones in 2015. If this will happen it is quite significant for Linux and for Chrome and Chrome OS. Devices like smart phones, but also netbooks, *Pads (non-Apple iPad pads which are coming out in big numbers this year) and others will run primarily on these ‘embedded’ operating systems.
As we know, Google will play a big part in this, because it’s Android OS is already getting huge market share and is growing faster than it’s competitors. It is obvious that users will run some form of the Chrome browser on those operating systems which means even more mindshare for Google. That ofcourse next to the enormous uptake of the Chrome browser on Windows and Mac OS X (I cannot imagine using anything else myself anymore).
Chrome OS is not taking off yet, but Android is and that promises a lot for the future. Google will have it’s tentacles into hardware companies and will use that power to push both OSs into the market. Interesting times ahead!
One of the most exciting features, I think, with the Chrome browser is their new tv extension.
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Chrome OS Video
Animated video on Google Chrome and the creation of Google Chrome OS
(video after the jump)
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Google came with a little cartoon to show the advantages of using their dashboard feature.
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Real-time search is being hailed as the next internet fad that´ll turn tiny start ups into million dollar corporations overnight. But is there real money in real-time? Read the rest of this entry »
I guess the odds of Google being the sole search engine to rule the world are looking slimmer and slimmer now that, in an unexpected turn of events, Facebook has entered the fray!
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