Google shoves Chrome 15, 16 into beta, dev channels

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Google's rapid release schedule has continued this week as Chrome versions 15 and 16 hit the beta and dev channels a mere week after the first stable build of Chrome 14. Available for Windows, Mac OS and Linux, the Chrome 15 beta brings a redesigned New Tab page that should make it easier to manage your apps, bookmarks and most visited sites.

You can drag and drop apps to rearrange them, create new sections with custom names and delete apps by dragging them into a trash can on the bottom right of the page. You can easily navigate between the various sections (Most visted, Apps and Bookmarks by default) and Chrome will remember your selection the next time you open a new tab.

Additionally, Chrome Web Store items can now be installed inline by their verified site, Omnibox History can be synced alongside your other browser data with Google Sync, and the Javascript Fullscreen API is now enabled by default. There doesn't seem to be much else in the way of new features. You can rummage through the SVN revision log here.

Meanwhile, Chrome 16 dev (Windows, Mac OS) enables the long-awaited multi-user feature by default, which allows you to switch between various in-browser user profiles. The prerelease build also contains an updated V8 engine (3.6.4.0) and various bug fixes, but you'll probably want to wait until it reaches beta before using it as your primary browser.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/45609-google-shoves-chrome-15-16-into-beta-dev-channels.html

 

[revam1]

I may be ignorant, but can someone explain why browsers are releasing their so called next 'major update' at a rapid rate? Isn't it better to focus on one browser per year and invest a lot of time and effort in that browser?...Just saying.

 

[bugejakurt]

I don't like the new tab page...

 

[negroplasty]

Still no update to give users more than just 8 thumbnails on the "new tab" page... when will you figure this out Google?

 

[mosu]

Looks like a leased or borrowed OS to me, making the browser an OS running ontop the existing OS.You don't have to buy Microsoft or Apple apps, just stick with Google.

 

[Zkal]

M1r said:
I may be ignorant, but can someone explain why browsers are releasing their so called next 'major update' at a rapid rate? Isn't it better to focus on one browser per year and invest a lot of time and effort in that browser?...Just saying.

Perhaps userwise but for developers it's better if all the new stuff that is aimed to help their work gets out there as fast as possible. That's at least the basis on why all the browsers started doing this, to make sure the web keeps getting better and better all the time instead of slow movement towards new tech.

 

[Guest]

Software isn't like waiting to have a finished building to live in. Probably 90% of what would go into a release once a year doesn't take a year to do. Say the UI team finish their overhaul of the bookmarking interface. Why should that wait for some arbitrary date in 6 months when the JavaScript team finally figured out how to get their engine to run on 64 bit?

Developers might also be tempted to change a bunch of stuff just for the sake of making a release look more significant too.

It's not a schedule for all software, but it makes damn good sense for a browser. The web is quite a modular place to live. Websites seamlessly update all the time that you probably don't notice so it just makes sense for a browser to. What would gmail look like if there was a massive update once a year.

Also consider, because you trickle updates in there's a lot longer for a lot more people to give feedback on fewer things so ideally your dev's get less swamped with a huge list of complaints and the smaller issues get more attention because there's less noise to compete with.


Just don't think because they release every other month dev's are going to just lump **** in because they can fix it next month. In fact it's quite the opposite. With a very long cycle you have managers/marketers forcing in things that aren't ready just to boast about and then quietly patch up later on and pray no one notices.

(Isn't that last bit a complaint people have with ubuntu's realses? But I wouldn't know.)