Faster, Stable Google Chrome 3
After a year's development, a new, stable version 3.0 of Google's open source Chrome browser is now available. Developers promise "significant speed improvements," although current beneficiaries are Windows Vista and XP users only.
Google Chrome users can select from among numerous browser themes.
As Google program manager Anthony Laforge announced in his blog posting, "this stable release incorporates many of the improvements and features that we tested out in our most recent beta release, including a 150% increase in Javascript performance since our very first beta." The official Google blog supports his assertion with two benchmark graphics and comparisons with Chrome versions 1 and 2.
Chrome 3 underwent a complete redesign of the New Tab page where the most commonly accessed webpages become thumbnails that you can rearrange and pin to a persistent spot on the screen. To continue along the "most used and favorite" theme, the Omnibox at the top of the browser that serves as both a search box and self-completing address bar now has an optimized presentation with a drop-down menu and helpful icons. Chrome 3 also incorporates the new HTML5 features of integrating videos as easily as graphics into a website. Then there's the abundance of browser themes, with a themes gallery showing the selections, comparable to what Mozilla Firefox has been providing as an add-on for some time.
The official Google blog has some interesting background figures: the past year involved 51 developer, 21 beta and 15 stable updates, with 3,505 bugfixes that went into Chrome 3. Downloads for Chrome 3 for Windows XP and Vista are on the Google webpage. The Linux variant should be out by the end of the year and is currently in a developer version.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.
-
Plasma Ends LTS Releases
The KDE Plasma development team is doing away with the LTS releases for a good reason.
-
Arch Linux Available for Windows Subsystem for Linux
If you've ever wanted to use a rolling release distribution with WSL, now's your chance.
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.