Google has pushed out a new Chrome release to the stable, taking Chrome 3 to version 3.0.195.24.
The update fixes one security hole in the V8 JavaScript engine which is rated as high severity and could allow an attacker to run arbitrary code in the Google Chrome sandbox.
As usual, the browser will be pushed out to current Chrome users, or can be downloaded directly from the Google Chrome website for new users.
The Google Chrome development team have released a new tool called Google Chrome Frame.
“Google Chrome Frame is an early-stage open source plug-in that seamlessly brings Google Chrome’s open web technologies and speedy JavaScript engine” and currently works in Internet Explorer 6, 7, and 8.
This plug-in would allow organisations to keep Internet Explorer 6, but still allow users to see pages that use HTML5 and advanced CSS features.
More information can be found on the Google Chrome Frame website.
Google has gone on record stating that they expect to release Google Chrome for Mac by the end of the year.
Chrome for Mac is currently available for testing on Mac, but lacks many privacy features and is not recommended for every day browsing. The Google Chrome team hope to have this sorted out before the year’s end.
Google is also looking at increasing its market share. “If at the two-year birthday we’re not at least 5 percent (market share), I will be exceptionally disappointed. And if at the three year birthday we’re not at 10 percent, I will be exceptionally disappointed,” said Chrome Engineering Director Linus Upson.
The test version of Google Chrome for Mac can be downloaded from the Chromium website.
Just after the first year of Google Chrome, Google has released Chrome 3.0.
The new release, with version number 3.0.195.21, includes a faster V8 JavaScript engine, a redesigned New Tab page, an improved Omnibox, Themes capability, and new HTML5 features.
Existing Chrome users will have the update pushed out to them, and for new users, the browser can be downloaded from the Google Chrome website.
The browser is quickly heading for a 4.0 release, which will finally include Mac and Linux versions.
Google has fixed 3 Chrome security holes, two which were rated as high severity, and the other as medium.
The first issue was in the V8 JavaScript engine, which could “allow specially-crafted Javascript on a web page to read unauthorized memory, bypassing security checks.”
The second issue allows poorly formed XML to crash the browser tab. “A malicious XML payload may be able to trigger a use-after-free condition. Other tabs are unaffected.”
The final bug could allow “sites whose certificates are signed using MD2 or MD4 hashing algorithms … to spoof an invalid site as a valid HTTPS site.”
Thankfully, none of these risks were rated as critical thanks to Google Chrome’s sandbox environment. The update will be pushed out to all current Chrome users.
Google Chrome 4.0.202.2 is now completely 64 bit compatible, and no longer uses any 32 bit libraries and is available for Linux.
“The v8 team did some amazing work this quarter building a working 64-bit port. After a handful of changes on the Chromium side, I’ve had Chromium Linux building on 64-bit for the last few weeks” said Google Chrome Software Engineer Dean McNamee.
The new builds can be downloaded from here, with build instructions also being available for Linux users.
A Windows and Mac version are set to follow.
Google is planning on adding cloud-based bookmark and password sync using ‘push’ technology for its Chrome browser.
Users will need a Google Account (such as Gmail), which will be used to store bookmarks and passwords. This will allow browsers to have their preferences available on any computer when they enter their details in any Chrome browser around the world.
“A bunch of us have been working on a feature to sync user data in Chromium with a Google account. The great news is that we’ll be starting to work directly in the Chromium project this week.” explained Chrome developer Tim Steele.
“We have built a library that implements the client side of our sync protocol, as well as the Google server-side infrastructure to serve Google Chrome users and synchronise data to their Google Account.”
“Rather than only depending on periodically polling for updates, when a change occurs on one Google Chrome client, a part of the infrastructure effectively sends a tiny XMPP message, like a chat message, to other actively connected clients telling them to sync.”
No details on when we will see this in Chrome have been announced.
Themes are even closer for browser Google Chrome, with recent developer builds including theme support already.
TechCrunch has been able to confirm that themes will be available in an online gallery from Google themselves.
While some early themes have been around for a while, latest builds allow users to push themes out to the browser, with an easy option to revert to previous themes if the user desires.
No word on when this feature will make it into the public releases, but expect things to start speeding up.
Thanks to a new algorithm, Google is able to push out Chrome updates in one tenth of the size they used to.
This means that Chrome updates can be pushed out to more simultaneously, protecting users against threats faster than before.
An example has been given on the recent update from 190.1->190.4 on the development channel.
More details on the new Courgette algorithm can be found on the Chromium Blog.
Google has pushed out Chrome 2.0.172.37 to users of the browser, patching two security holes.
The security holes would allow an attacker to run arbitrary code in the Google Chrome sandbox and even with the privileges of the logged on user.
Other changes include:
The update will be pushed out automatically to Chrome users.