Google Chrome is Now Available for Mac

The release of Google Chrome for the Mac signifies that the browser is in demand and making some strides. While most have been skeptical, I have been happily using Chrome on my PC for some time now. The browser is easy to use, efficient, and well-designed. In prior posts, I have mentioned that the only thing I was not happy about is the lack of plug-in availability; however, there is a world of add-ons being released in the near future. Perhaps Google read my post?

The downfall to the version that was released for Mac is that this is only a beta version. This means that you are currently unable to use applications like Gmail. As soon as a full version becomes available, the true convenience of having a browser that is always connected to your email and documents will become apparent.

Although this is not a full version, those that have Macs and have wanted to try Google Chrome will be able to test it out and benefit from its convenient functionalities such as speed, easy to find downloads, incognito search windows and the ability to search directly from the address bar.

As I have stated before, I desperately would like to have some add-ons available in order to move on from Firefox. Don’t get me wrong, Mozilla is great, but there is just something about Chrome I really like. Add-ons and extensions have taken a while to develop since Chrome only has about 3% market share. Currently only the developer version of Chrome offers some extensions. To take a look at some of the extensions available for this version, you can go to ChromeExtensions.org or ChromePlugins.org. I have taken a peak and I’ve seen a nifty Facebook notification extension that alerts you right on your browser tool bar when you have a new message or notification.

Every month, there seems to be a new development from Google. The engineers are hard at work in the lab making sure they stay ahead of the game—leaving others in the dust. The release of Google Caffeine, a faster version of their original search engine, will merge with the velocity of Chrome to make one powerful browser.  To stay up to date, or to see what else Google is cooking up in the near future, visit their latest ideas page at http://www.google.com/experimental.

December 10, 2009