Google Chrome Goes Back Into Beta for 2.0

News
By Marcus Yam
published

While all the browser talk today will center around the release of Internet Explorer 8, those who want to be different or just try new things should take notice of Google’s Chrome browser heading back into beta.

Earlier this week, Google released a beta for its version 2.0 Chrome browser, which promises noticeably faster speeds. “The best thing about this new beta is speed--it's 25% faster on our V8 benchmark and 35% faster on the Sunspider benchmark than the current stable channel version and almost twice as fast when compared to our original beta version,” as noted on the Chrome blog.

Chrome is based off of the open source Webkit browser code, just like Apple’s Safari. Thanks to continuous new builds of Webkit, Chrome 2.0 will feature form autofill, full page zoom and autoscroll. Tab dragging has also been updated too, now with a side-by-side view.

Given that the 1.x version of Chrome is already regarded as being very quick, the beta should be even faster. If you have the need for speed, try it here.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
14 Comments Comment from the forums
  • theuerkorn
    While I think that Google Chrome isn't a bad browser, not at all, who really is so concerned about speed these days that 25% really matter?
    Reply
  • bornking
    ^I Agree. What's the point?
    Someone will argue "efficiency of the system as a whole will have an aggregate effect that is measurable and highly valuable"...blah blah blah, it's just a few seconds!
    Reply
  • Grims
    I want compatibility...it doesnt work on any of our company web programs.
    Reply
  • cheepstuff
    its understandable to want your browser to open when you click on it, but the competition is trying to go into the hundredth of a second just to prove a difference.
    Reply
  • pocketdrummer
    Browser startup time should be improved. Same for downloads. Web pages don't take very long at all to load. Then again, clicking back on Opera makes me thinks twice... that's friggin' quick! Still, I can't help but awe at Firefox's options... and I hate having the tabs at the top (what a stupid idea... who thought of that!?)

    Anyway... I won't use Chrome because of the processes that stay on even when the browser isn't. That, and Google watches people, and I'm not really ok with that.
    Reply
  • eddieroolz
    ^^ I agree with ya there, picket. I tried the original Chrome for a day, and uninstalled it an hour later.

    I won't be trying this. I don't like Google and Chrome.
    Reply
  • blackened144
    GrimsI want compatibility...it doesnt work on any of our company web programs.I installed the first beta when it came out.. I used it for a day or so then went back to FF and IE7 work work.. The following week they locked it down so that Chrome will not even work on a computer joined to our domain.. Its on my quick launch and I click it accidentally from time to time and I get the "Windows can not open this program due to a software restriction policy..."
    Reply
  • vincent67
    blah blah blah, it's just a few seconds!

    Speed is important and difference can be very noticeable.
    Chrome is extremly efficient at startup and page load.

    But, I think the whole thing here for Google is to offer a platform that can handle fast and reliable DOM change, something that current browsers are very weak to process.
    Modify the DOM and it can take forever for the engine to refresh the display. With the widespread of AJAX and rich client desktop like Widget, it becomes a necessity.

    Speed and Chrome makes sense for the next generation of very rich Web Application that will match or even surpass their desktop counterparts.
    We are talking here of applications with tons of JavaScript, CSS 2.1, AJAX, DHTML, and Vector Graphics like in FLEX, Silverlight, SVG.

    In my work, we are migrating a very rich ERP desktop application to the web and do see better perf with Chrome than desktop, while IE and FF are slower.

    If Google wants to take over Office & Windows from Microsoft, they need something like Chrome.
    Reply
  • cheepstuff
    people, GET IT STRAIT!! google has been offering freeware and services. they have had success for the last couple years, but their a million miles away from touching the multi billion dollar industry microsoft ownes. google as we know it wouldn't exist without MICROSOFT, heck the whole software world as we know it wouldn't exist without microsoft. i am NOT a microsoft fanboy, all you have to do look at is the developement of the industry days since DOS to see microsofts influence is way beyond google.
    Reply
  • vincent67
    cheepstuff, I mostly agree with what you said.
    But we could also say the same for Microsoft. They would not exist as we know without IBM, Apple and Xerox PARC.

    Moreover, Windows is a response to Macintosh,
    C# and .NET is a response to Java,
    It took a lot of time for Microsoft to accept Internet,
    SQLServer just catched up with other RDBS like Oracle,
    Office has competitors that do mostly the same job
    ...

    That Microsoft is the number 1 software company today, doesn't prove it will be number one in 50 years. They officially said several times that Google was their first and most important competitor in the future.

    Anyway, what is your point ?
    That Google shouldn't release a new version of their browser because Microsoft is Number 1?
    That no company should try to compete with Microsoft?
    Reply