It seems like only yesterday that Google launched its zippy Chrome web browser (8 months ago!) but it was March when the Beta version came out and today we have Chrome 2: a speedier and more stable, feature rich update.
Amongst the improvements to the Windows-only browse is a new tabs page.
On opening a new tab you will be presented with an instant and relevant starting point in the form of a page of your most frequently visited pages along with a sidebar showing your most visited search engines and recently bookmarked pages as well as a list of the last tabs you closed.
Chrome also now has a handy full-screen mode that you can launch into by hitting F11 or choosing from menu: useful for viewing internet slideshows, video or presentations.
Aside from this autofill functionality has been introduced to make filling out forms that much easier (I know, big deal) but the little addition of not having to erase your entire browsing data history to get rid of one or a few saved searches is nifty: you simply choose the unwanted auto text by clicking upon it and deleting it individually leaving the rest of your saved auto text intact.
Rest easy knowing embarrassing sites or ones you’d rather not have others see, can be scrubbed from this and the frequently visited sites tab.
And killing bugs has also been a priority for this build of Chrome: Google’s official Chrome blog states that since launch over 300 bugs that caused the browser to crash have been fixed. For those interested a full list of these bugs can be found here: http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/list?can=1&q=crash+status:fixed,verified+-label:regression&colspec=ID+Stars+Pri+Area+Type+Status+Summary+Modified+Owner+Mstone&x=mstone&y=area&cells=tiles
But is it zippier then before? Well remember when Google bragged that the Beta version has a 25-35pc speed boost on the release version? Chrome 2 promises to load pages loaded down by JavaScript by up to 30pc. None too shabby.
Those already using Chrome will received an automatic update. But if you haven’t used it before the download can be found here: http://www.google.com/chrome
By Marie Boran
