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Google Unleashes New Chrome Beta Browser As Its Market Share Grows


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Google unleashes new Chrome beta as its market share grows

Google has added more Chrome features for Windows users as it gains market share in browsers while others appear to be losing ground

Google has released a new beta version of its Chrome browser, which is currently growing its market share, according to a usage-based tracker. The new features of this Windows-only version 4.1 include more advanced privacy controls, more control of things like cookies on a site-by-site basis, and what Google calls the "seamless integration of translation functionality". If you already have Chrome installed, the beta replaces the current version, though you may not notice much difference.

Chrome's "Under the Bonnet" section has tabs that let you (separately) block all images, JavaScript, plug-ins and pop-ups, though it's not particularly handy if you want to toggle those settings.

The Google Chrome blog post that introduced the beta has a video demo of the translation feature. Briefly, if you arrive at a page in a foreign language, Chrome just asks if you it translated using Google Translate.

In the UK, Google says there are new extensions from TfL, TicketMaster, SeatWave, Heat, Empire, and others. Invisible Hand has one (not tried) that "searches for cheaper prices on products as you browse".

Chrome is doing pretty well, going by Net Applications' browser market share numbers for February 2010. Chrome use increased 0.4 percentage points to 5.6% while Firefox dipped 0.2 points to 24.2% and Safari slipped almost 0.1 to 4.45%. The numbers may well be arguable, but Firefox has now lost share three months in a row from a peak of 24.7% in November 2009. That's not a good trend. However, all of IE's rivals could benefit from the "browser choice screen" now being shown to many European users.

-- Agencies 2010-02-02

Posted

One of the reasons I haven't switched over to Chrome is the lack of add-ons and good ad blocking software. Must say Firefox is well ahead in this department, but for how long is anyone's guess...

A feature I like to see added to Chrome is the ability set proxy servers from within the browser like Firefox. I never understood why Chrome developers insist on using Windows proxy settings. Although one can override this default behavior by using the "--proxy-server=" switch, this method isn't convenient; not for beginners anyway.

Posted

I was not able to use Google Chrome with Win 7 Pro because of continuous crashes. I have downloaded the beta and so far all seems well. I have set it as my default browser.

Posted

I forgot to include this with my other post, so here it is for those who may be interested.

Google Chrome Command Line Switches

How To Use

1. Open Google Chrome shortcut Properties;

2. In the Target box, add the switch immediately following the path to chrome.exe

for example:

"C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --args

3. Click Apply, then OK.

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