With a standard six week release cycle, it’s hardly big news when Google Chrome releases a new beta version. However, this time around is different, if only in the sheer magnitude of Chrome’s upcoming changes. While new releases often include a generalized “things are faster and niftier” descriptor, this particular update will be adding a number of new features that improves the visual elements of browsing, and the safety and privacy of browsers.
Here’s a brief rundown of the upgrades found in the upcoming version of Chrome:
- Chrome has provided full support for 3D CSS hardware acceleration.
- Chrome has added an additional layer to the “Safe Browsing” mechanism (introduced in Chrome by default in the last release cycle, and present as its own service for well longer). Users will now be warned against malicious downloads through the Google Safe Browsing algorithm. Google assures Chrome users that Chrome will be doing this without tracking what sites you visit or what files you’re downloading.
- Chrome now allows you to delete information stored locally on your computer. Specifically, all items stored in LSOs, the flash medium that communicates your history and data with websites, can now be deleted directly through Chrome. Previously, users had to go to the Adobe Flash website to have this information deleted.
- Chrome has added improved screen reader support for the visually impaired, especially for the JAWS, VoiceOver, and NVDA readers.
- Chrome has eliminated Google Gears, since almost all of what Gears did in the past can now be done using HTML5 instead. “We hope that Google Gears rests in peace,” states Vangelis Kokkevis, Software Engineer on the Google Chrome team.
These are some hefty changes, but there’s always more in the works for the Chrome team. What changes are you hoping for in future iterations?
[via the Google Chrome Blog]
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