Google has released a new Beta version of Chrome over the weekend that has cranked up the speed of its web browser.
Chrome 10.0.648.82’s most notable feature is its enhanced JavaScript performance that is said to be 66% faster than the current Chrome 9 version, and the speed upgrade is noticeable. An update of V8, Google’s open source JavaScript engine, coined Crankshaft, achieved the speed improvement.
Battery life and video processing have also been enhanced with GPU acceleration.
While interface tweaks aren’t completed, the Beta does offer a peek at what the full version will look like: Google’s moving completely onto the web page by eliminating pop-up options menus. For example, the Settings interface is displayed as a web page tab rather than a pop-out menu.
Other notable updates including background functionality for WebApps, password syncing in Chrome Sync and general security improvements.
What this means for users is new apps supporting the Beta could become available before the full release of Chrome 10.
