Google Chrome 4 Stable Released
Google released Google Chrome 4 stable today which is another milestone release for the Google browser.
The developer's have managed to overtake the Firefox web browser - at least when versioning is the measurement - which recently has been released as version 3.6. It is also closing in on Opera and Internet Explorer with a good chance that it will beat those web browsers in another year's time.
Version 4 of Google Chrome is a milestone release because of several things. First to be noted should be the extension engine which allows all Google Chrome users to install extensions now once they have updated their web browser to version 4.
This is a big step for both Chrome users but also extension developer's who previously created extensions for the exclusive beta testing community.
Other features include bookmark synchronizing, integration of HTML5 apis and of course performance improvements over version 3 of the Chrome web browser.
Should the new stable release of Google Chrome worry other browser developers? Opera and Internet Explorer developers will most likely not be worried that much but Firefox developers might as it could be the browser to lose market share to Google Chrome in the long run.
Google Chrome 4 can be downloaded from the official Google Chrome website. The web browser is currently only available for Windows PCs with versions for Linux and Macintosh promised to be released later this year (via Chrome blog)
Update: A lot has changed since the release of Google Chrome 4. The Internet browser is now available for the Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh and Linux operating system. It is still available for download at the Chrome website.
Especially Firefox, but also Internet Explorer, have been losing market share ever since Google Chrome made its first appearance as a web browser. It is now one of the most popular browsers on the Internet.
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There is an interesting article on how Google collects data about you and the Internet, over at http://royal.pingdom.com/2010/01/08/how-google-collects-data-about-you-and-the-internet/
Three points:
1- The practice of collecting data is not limited to Google;
2- Recording and identifying are sometimes — and sometimes not – two different matters, There are counter-strikes to at least preserve a basis of essential privacy;
3- I do have to admit that Google products, for the least, tend to excellency.
I think the real significance of Google’s move can be seen in a market where Microsoft’s dominance has been waning: browsers.
It was only seven years ago that Microsoft’s browser market share was over 90 percent and many Web developers made sites that only worked well in Internet Explorer, offering up the logic that almost no one else was using an alternative browser.
I will wait until Google’s new found self respect for “Do No Evil” has taken hold. Otherwise, it would be easy for them to bow to dictatorial decrees to “monitor” citizens for their own good like they had been doing in China until recently.
It’s a matter of trust. ‘Tis hard to trust someone that says one thing and do another.
There was an aritcle on Ghacks that said that google records everything you do but it doesn’t identify you.