Update to Google Chrome Eases Plug-In Woes

With the third update to Google’s open source Chrome browser out, many people, including us, have been writing about the speed improvements. Various tests around the web show its JavaScript performance at close to 40 percent faster than when it was first released. However, there are a number of other enhancements in the latest version (which pushes to you automatically if you’re already running Chrome).

In a Google blog post today, Chrome developers are confirming that plug-ins now work much better, and more.

To be clear, Chrome still does not have support for the many extensions that Firefox has. What Google means by plug-ins is under-the-hood helper tools that do things like play videos and display PDF files. In early feedback on the Chrome browser, some users were having trouble with video and PDF files.

The latest, third update to the Chrome beta contains many fixes for plug-ins. As discussed in this post, the new beta solves problems that many users were having with YouTube videos, and with working with charts.

Thanks to the free availability of its open source core, Chromium, Chrome is also being taken in some new directions. There is privacy-enhanced version of the browser called Iron, and a lightweight version appropriate for portable use: Portable Chrome.

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