Google Chrome 3 Stable released

Author: Gareth Halfacree
Published: 16th September 2009
Comments (29) Stumble
Google Chrome 3 Stable released

The latest stable release of Google Chrome, version 3, introduces a faster version of the JavaScript engine along with UI improvements.

Just over a year after its initial release, the third version of Google's open-source Chrome web browser has been deemed ready for public consumption.

As reported over on CNet, the latest release of the browser has left beta with some pretty nice new features intact and ready for prime time.

Perhaps the most important improvement over previous versions is a boost in JavaScript performance. Figures provided by Google show the stable release of Chrome 3 performing significantly faster than Chrome 2, which in turn was a major boost over Chrome 1 - and they all outshone the original public beta release. While improvements are to be expected, the fact that Google is able to keep improving performance in an engine which is already considered to be one of the fastest around is pretty impressive.

The latest stable build also supports the near-abandoned HTML 5 video tag, allowing for certain formats of video file to be embedded directly within a page and played back without the need for a plugin or helper application.

Improvements to the user interface - including a newly redesigned New Tab page which allows user to click and drag their favourites around, and icons in the Omnibox which make it easy to see whether you're hitting a search, site, or bookmark when typing in the address bar.

The new stable build, which will get automatically rolled out to users over the next few weeks, is available for immediate download from Google. If you've been playing with the beta and think version 3 is old hat, the developer build of Chrome 4 is available too.

Is Chrome developing into the browser of choice, or does version 3 still lack features you consider to be vital for a modern web browser? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
Quote shigllgetcha 16th September 2009, 10:26
IE is terrible in comparison to chrome. I havent used it once since I installed chrome
Quote mi1ez 16th September 2009, 10:30
I still prefer firefox - twitterfox, adblock plus, fire.fm and greasemonkey are indispensable!
Quote SBS 16th September 2009, 11:15
Indeed, give us some decent plugins alongside an easy way to customise things like those godawful mouse gestures and I think more of us will fall into line.
Quote oatey4519 16th September 2009, 11:27
Been using Chrome for sometime now.
Do flick back to Firefox every now and then.
But its stayed as my default.

Using the Dev Chrome 4 version - and very fast/nice it is too..
There are sample add on av if you look.
Try these
http://dev.chromium.org/developers/design-documents/extensions/samples
Quote wuyanxu 16th September 2009, 11:29
that's a bit too fast isn't it? soon, it'd overtake IE 8 in numbering.

also, what's this obsession with browser speeds, as long as it displays a page it's fine. browser should be user friendly and very customisable.
Quote Shuriken 16th September 2009, 11:31
I've been using chrome since it was first released, the main reason I choose it over Firefox, other than the beautifully minimal layout, is start up time. On my (admittedly slow) laptop, chrome loads instantly, Firefox 3 takes about 60 seconds...
Quote smc8788 16th September 2009, 11:35
At least there was cake...

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EsaGlPOyn20/Sp4ZiJ26AvI/AAAAAAAAAB8/lDe7g9okiqo/s400/1st-birthday-cake.jpg
Quote Brooxy 16th September 2009, 11:56
Nice to see a browser taking evolutionary steps for the better. I've had v2 installed on my work machine for sometime now, and aside from a small proxy issue, it's been running beautifully.

Upon first load of Chrome 3 (Straight after reading the article), it's not asking for a proxy authentication as of yet - and it's nice to see Google have kept things basic.

Wonder if this is going to give an indication of the performance of the Google OS?
Quote DXR_13KE 16th September 2009, 11:57
ah... now i understand why it looked different today...
Quote erratum1 16th September 2009, 12:13
Chrome is my browser of choice, i like it because it's fast.
Quote hotnikkelz 16th September 2009, 12:33
firefox will always be better cuz of add ons like greasemonkey...it's just way too important to give up. I rather sacrifice that marginal increase for speed for my extensions....seriously.
Quote shigllgetcha 16th September 2009, 12:35
IE is so desperatly slow starting up on my laptop (which isnt slow itself) and chrome opens in a second or two and i just want a browser for basic surfing so its perfect for that
Quote BLC 16th September 2009, 12:36
I've always liked Chrome since it was released - definitely my browser of choice. Firefox is more functional, but Chrome is fast, has a small footprint and has a wonderfully minimalist UI that's very simple & intuitive to use. Just a shame that they don't support other platforms, as Chromium isn't quite as good as the Google-coded Chrome.
Quote UncertainGod 16th September 2009, 13:08
I've been running chrome dev channel as my default browser for ages now and the only thing I need is a more fully featured blacklist extension (like NoScript) and then it will do everything that Firefox does just about 100 million times faster.... Except for live bookmarks, I do miss those.
Quote Psy-UK 16th September 2009, 13:25
I've recently made the switch to Chrome from Firefox and, sorry Mozilla, but your browser is too bloated now. Chrome only takes up around 30MB of RAM for general browsing whilst Mozilla's offering takes up a whopping 130MB with only the Twitter addon.

I can live without the plugins.
Quote crazyceo 16th September 2009, 15:13
Yawn! This is just eye candy for the OEM's Google are trying to get to install Chrome ADWARE onto Windows 7.

Chill with the hype please ladies.
Quote specofdust 16th September 2009, 15:45
Must confess I'm a little disappointed to see this covered but the launch of Opera 10 (a couple of weeks ago) completely missed.

Chrome seems like an OK browser to me. It does depress me though by showing that simply because it's been released by a huge company and is better than IE it's going to be huge.
Quote Gareth Halfacree 16th September 2009, 16:55
Quote:
Originally Posted by specofdust
Must confess I'm a little disappointed to see this covered but the launch of Opera 10 (a couple of weeks ago) completely missed.
I think that was when I was on holiday, otherwise it would have been covered.
Quote docodine 16th September 2009, 21:57
Quote:
Originally Posted by crazyceo
Yawn! This is just eye candy for the OEM's Google are trying to get to install Chrome ADWARE onto Windows 7.

Chill with the hype please ladies.

lolwut?

What do people do with greasemonkey? Never found any useful scripts really, and I haven't looked since I started using Chrome.. Is it really a good reason for using FF?
Quote Stuey 16th September 2009, 22:42
Chrome 3? Didn't know about Chrome 2! I'll dl it asap.

As odd as it sounds, I use all three browsers on a daily basis. I'l liking Chrome more and more.
Quote xprodancer 17th September 2009, 01:32
considering the speed on this by everyones comments im now goin to try chrome 3! i use the net everytime im on my machine so it would be nice to have a quick browser to go throo the pages at some pace! im gettin fed up pwith waiting for IE8 to go to a page!!!!!
Quote Denis_iii 17th September 2009, 09:59
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shuriken
I've been using chrome since it was first released, the main reason I choose it over Firefox, other than the beautifully minimal layout, is start up time. On my (admittedly slow) laptop, chrome loads instantly, Firefox 3 takes about 60 seconds...

second that
i shifted to chrome 3 yesterday and am loving it
firefox was takin up to 2minutes to launch on my work pc, no homepages or addins, just basic firfox opening to a blank page
chrome is up and ready to go in seconds and i'm loving it
they just need to sort out a addin manager and official addin website
and also ability to set cachce size limit/location
Quote eek 17th September 2009, 10:48
Quote:
Originally Posted by specofdust
Must confess I'm a little disappointed to see this covered but the launch of Opera 10 (a couple of weeks ago) completely missed.

Chrome seems like an OK browser to me. It does depress me though by showing that simply because it's been released by a huge company and is better than IE it's going to be huge.
It's a relative newcomer to the market and given that the GoogleOS is going to be heavily based upon it it does make sense to devote a little bit more time to it than Opera that has been kicking around for years and although is a decent browser, it has failed to make any significant inroads. Most Opera users I know almost fit into the fanboy category and refuse to beleive anything could ever be better than it, we all know the truth, Google is by far the best company ever and no matter what they make, it's always the best. ;)
Quote eek 17th September 2009, 11:02
Quote:
Originally Posted by Denis_iii
second that
i shifted to chrome 3 yesterday and am loving it
firefox was takin up to 2minutes to launch on my work pc, no homepages or addins, just basic firfox opening to a blank page
chrome is up and ready to go in seconds and i'm loving it
they just need to sort out a addin manager and official addin website
and also ability to set cachce size limit/location
I like it because it runs likea dream under Windows7 on my netbook and it takes up very little real-estate for minimal scrolling.

Including add-ons is a slippery slope. Look at FireFox, although it was never the quickest thing to load up, IMO it's performace has degraded as they have added features and bulked it out. If Chrome starts to bloat then it won't be long before its memory footprint increases, it takes longer to start up, and it loses one of the main advantages it has over other browsers.

I view the browser space as follows:
Chrome- fast, lightweight, basic web browser. No bells and whistles but does what it does well.

Firefox- Fully featured, lots of add-ons, but as a result slower to load and required more system resources. Good for those who need to the extra features and either have the power to cope with it or see the performance degradation as a worthy sacrifice

Opera- inbetween Chrome and FF. It is still relatively quick, isn't too bloated, but does have some extra features should you wish to use them. The new proxy it uses to compress pages when on a slow connection looks like an awesome feature and makes it ideal for the mobile market.

IE- Getting better but is always one step behind. Upgrade cycles are few and far between, often on or near OS releases. I find it ties itself heavily to MS services (e.g. Bing) and it isn't easy to change. The lazy choice.

Netscape- The lazy corporate who needs to get rid of NT4 :)
Quote crazyceo 17th September 2009, 11:06
Quote:
Originally Posted by eek
Most Opera users I know almost fit into the fanboy category and refuse to beleive anything could ever be better than it, we all know the truth, Google is by far the best company ever and no matter what they make, it's always the best. ;)

I have to ask you how do you think Google make their money?

Not only did Google stick its claws into every downloadable software with the question "Wanna make us some more money? then download our toolbar and search engine!" Realplayer, Adobe everything, etc.etc. and so every jumps on the bandwagon not even realising they are making money everytime you click.

Shouldn't you lot be getting something back from google for all the money you have made them?

Funny how the only one offering something back is the all hated mighty Microsoft by way of Bing.
Quote eek 17th September 2009, 13:36
Quote:
Originally Posted by crazyceo
Quote:
Originally Posted by eek
Most Opera users I know almost fit into the fanboy category and refuse to beleive anything could ever be better than it, we all know the truth, Google is by far the best company ever and no matter what they make, it's always the best. ;)

I have to ask you how do you think Google make their money?

Not only did Google stick its claws into every downloadable software with the question "Wanna make us some more money? then download our toolbar and search engine!" Realplayer, Adobe everything, etc.etc. and so every jumps on the bandwagon not even realising they are making money everytime you click.

Shouldn't you lot be getting something back from google for all the money you have made them?

Funny how the only one offering something back is the all hated mighty Microsoft by way of Bing.
Hmm maybe I should have made the winking smilie bigger... My comment about Opera fanboys followed by massive praise on how Gooogle can't put a foot wrong was somewhat tongue-in-cheek :)

I had to download both Adobe Reader and Flash yesterday, I couldn't believe it wanted to install google toolbar crap by default!
I'm actually currently using IE8/Bing as I need to reinstall Win7 ASAP so there I don't see the point in getting it set up exactly how I want it yet. Bing is growing on me but it seems a little script heavy for this netbook, the little preview thing is really annoying. Google still make my browser and search engine of choice, even if they are growing more and more evil/monopolistic/corporate. Things they make are undeniably good products (google maps, android, docs, chrome...). Doesn't mean I agree with their tactics and everything they do though
Quote karolis 17th September 2009, 16:17
Eek, i think you probably have a point. I wouldn't call myself a fanboy, but i've been using Opera for pretty much since i got my first pc (after a friend's recommendation).

I quite like Chrome and where it's going, and i like Firefox for it's customization options, Opera to me seems like a very healthy balance between speed, features (love the built-in email client) and footprint. But again, that's just me.

Also, i always have a lot of tabs open (usually more than 20). Chrome opens every tab as a new process, if anything crashes, only the specific tab crashes rather than the whole browser. While this is very nice and safe, the memory usage increases exponentially (just did a quick and dirty test, opera with 22 tabs uses less memory than Chrome with 5)
Quote jamesthebard 18th September 2009, 18:29
I'm a big fan for the advancement of any browser. Competition is a great thing because once a browser comes out with a new feature, the other browsers tend to start developing the same features.

The only thing lacking with Chrome is a plugin system. It's fast, works well, and is simplistic in it's overall aesthetics. As Opera/Chrome/Firefox/IE continue to develop, things will get better and, over time, spread out the market share.

*--Not so sure on the IE part now that I look back on the post, but I guess they could do some hardcore "innovation"...
Quote BLC 19th September 2009, 12:41
Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesthebard
The only thing lacking with Chrome is a plugin system. It's fast, works well, and is simplistic in it's overall aesthetics. As Opera/Chrome/Firefox/IE continue to develop, things will get better and, over time, spread out the market share.

Afraid you're a bit out of date there - Chrome does indeed support plugins, there just aren't many of them ;).
Log in

You are not logged in, please login with your forum account below. If you don't already have an account please register to start contributing.