Saturday, January 30, 2010

Google's Chrome Browser updates to New Level 5

It wasn't that long ago that Google threw a shock wave through the  tech world by announcing their own web browser, competing directly with Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Mozilla's Firefox, Apple's Safari and others, including the recently upgraded Opera.

Google Chrome debuted as a lightweight (meaning small program size with a very low drain on system resources.... rendering it quick) piece of software that many embraced right out of the box.

The biggest complaint at the time came from Apple users who didn't get their own version (since rectified).

Chrome essentially comes in three flavors.  For the general audience, a 'stable' channel.  For the braver bunch,  a 'beta' channel, and for developers, yes, a 'developer' channel.

Late today, after numerous upgrades and numerous feature additions over a VERY short timeline, several of us noticed something significant in the numbering sequence.

The developer channel, late today, moved above 5.0.

Typically major upgrades are marked by a new number 'at the front'.  The Chrome Releases blog notes the following changes among those in this update:


Although these changes don't appear mind-boggling, there was plenty of room left in the '4' series?  


In keeping with our new 'message' of making these posts not just for techies anymore ... If you've completely missed the Chrome mini-explosion, you can check it out here, or check out the Chrome YouTube channel here.