Google has released an updated version of Chrome 8 months after the browser was officially launched and brings in a slew of improvements.

It is faster than ever before, up to 30 percent quicker than Chrome version 1 - especially when having to deal with Javascript heavy pages - and independent tests performed by Betanews and Cnet confirm this.

Its developers also have squashed hundreds of bugs over the past months. Then there are the little details like the ability to remove thumbnails from the new tab section (although you can't remove pages recently closed).

Other improvements include the new full screen mode, available by pressing the F11 button, more security features like HTML 5's PostMessage as well as the autofill feature which remembers what you entered in fields. That said, Chrome's Bookmark management is still primitive and there's still no support for Mac or Linux.

But the most talked about reason why Chrome is not more popular is its lack of plugin compatibility which is the reason why Firefox is so widespread. That's shouldn't last long though as there's a featured session at the forthcoming Google IO Developer conference in San Francisco which will look at developing extensions for Google Chrome. The other pretty bleeding obvious addition would have been an integrated, customised Google toolbar.

You can download Google Chrome here and learn more about Chromium, the open source platform on which Chrome is based, here.

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Our Comments

I've ran Chrome since day one and never looked back. Yes, the lack of plugin support is painful but if you are after ultimate speed, then Chrome is where the money is. In some aspect, it epitomises Google's minimalist philosophy which it pioneered with its search engine.

Related Links

Google polishes Chrome browser; version 2.0 now faster, shinier

http://dvice.com/archives/2009/05/google-polishes.php

Google Chrome Updates: Faster than ever!

http://www.watblog.com/2009/05/23/google-chrome-updates-faster-than-ever/

Google Chrome 2 is 20% faster than Chrome 1 in physical speed tests

http://www.betanews.com/article/Google-Chrome-2-is-20-faster-than-Chrome-1-in-physical-speed-tests/1243046066

Google Chrome 2.0 Browser Brings More Web Security

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Google-Chrome-2-Brings-More-Security-to-the-Table-207610/

Google Chrome 2.0 released

http://www.neowin.net/news/software/09/05/22/google-chrome-20-released