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Google Upgrades Technology

Google Rolls Out Chrome 7 292

Posted by CmdrTaco from the bright-and-shiny dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Google on Tuesday released a new stable version of its internet browser, Chrome 7. The latest update is part of Google's promise in July to release a new stable version of Chrome about every six weeks. Chrome 7 comes with hundreds of bug fixes, an updated HTML5 parser, the File API, and directory upload via input tag. It is available in the stable and beta channels for Windows, Mac, and Linux. 'The main focus was the hundreds of bug fixes,' Jeff Chang, a Google product manager, wrote in a blog post."
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Google Rolls Out Chrome 7 More

Google Rolls Out Chrome 7

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  • One request...please! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Singularity42 ( 1658297 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2010 @01:21PM (#33963062)

    Can I open a local file from a menu? Is that too much to ask???

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Shikaku ( 1129753 )

      Ctrl+O

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Yes and the way most people learn keyboard shortcuts is... by first seeing them in the application menu. Putting back the http:// protocol prefix and trailing slash on root directory index would be a good idea too.

        • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

          by Shikaku ( 1129753 )

          Considering Ctrl+O is a ubiquitous standard such that any application down to MS paint to Adobe CS that can open files uses Ctrl+O to open files, I think they saw it at least once.

          • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

            by OffaMyLawn ( 1885682 )
            Yes, but you seem to be banking on the fact that non-technical people will remember shortcuts like that. I've had experience with this dealing with my parents.

          • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

            by nschubach ( 922175 )

            Eh, as much as I agree that it's "standard" operating procedure, I've been tricked by some apps that have different meanings for CTRL+D (Delete or Duplicate line) that can really screw with the user.

            Besides, it's nice to tell someone new to a PC who may be flipping through a menu trying to find a way to do it.

      • .. What about it Ctrl+O?

        On Chrome 7, Windows 7, it shows me an open file dialog box.

  • 7.0? Really? (Score:3, Informative)

    by SpryGuy ( 206254 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2010 @01:21PM (#33963064)

    Why isn't it 6.x? Does this mean in 6 weeks they'll give us 8.0? Whatever happened to using the numbers AFTER the decimal point, especially for releases that concentrate mostly on bug-fixes?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by treeves ( 963993 )
      They probably just want to hurry up and get to 10 (i.e. 'X') and they can just stay there and be like Apple.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by The MAZZTer ( 911996 )
      Well they were doing 0.1 and 0.2, but then they jumped to 1.0. I think the prevailing theory at the time was that computer manufacturers didn't want to ship "beta" software, so Google simply removed the beta logo and bumped the version number. Problem solved! :)

    • No ones going to download it if it isn't a "new" version.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Goaway ( 82658 )

        Chrome auto-updates, there's no need to try and trick people into downloading anything.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Kjella ( 173770 )

      Is the placebo effect real? Yes, if you don't care how you achieve results. They'd call it Chrome Deluxe 2010 Ultra Extreme if that'd bring more users. Unlike many open source projects that are anti-marketing, not just neutral to it but actually opposed to using more "marketable" names.

      • Is Chrome considered "open source" like firefox, or "closed" like Opera? I'm confused. It's owned by Google so I'd think closed but not sure.

        Windows NT 6.1 is called "seven" on the packaging Chrome 6.1 or Chrome 7.0 version numbering really means little.
        IMHO

        • Is Chrome considered "open source" like firefox, or "closed" like Opera?

          "Chromium" is like the "Darwin kernel" (MacOS X), which is open source, where Apple contributes and receives contributions, while creating their own environment on top (the rest of the OS) that is closed source.

          "Google Chrome Browser" is a modified and closed adaptation of Chromium that adds google's branding and datamining-ware --I think it also added that Mozilla-dreaded H.264 decoder or some other licensed software that can't be open sourced.

          You can definitely choose Chromium for the sake of privacy, but

        • The base for Chrome, chromium, is open source. I'm not sure how much, if any, code is proprietary in the Google Chrome binaries, but from using builds based on the open-source code there does not seem to be much difference. Opera, AFIAK, is mostly, if not completely, closed-source. Firefox is open-source, but Mozilla has strict rules on branding of builds not compiled by them (the reason for "IceWeasel" in Debian).

          The difference between Microsoft calling NT 6.1 "seven" is that it is pure marketing. The vers

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gmuslera ( 3436 )
      Chrome gained 7 major versions while Firefox still at 3.x. Version number matters? Is not "winning" because getting up faster, look at windows version number in all its history.

      Probably will change versioning naming scheme in not very long... at this rate will have numbers higher than the full year this decade.

      In the other hand, is still a young product, probably will slow down new versions rate as its feature set stabilizes.
      • Windows marketing has nothing to do with its success. Look at the prevalence of Vista during the huge backlash of "GET THIS FUCKING SHIT OFF MY COMPUTER" "Sorry we can't, you don't have a license." This was a key factor in the rise of MacOSX use.

    • Re:7.0? Really? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by fermion ( 181285 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2010 @01:39PM (#33963326) Homepage Journal
      I said this before and I will say this again. Google, just like MS, is playing the version game so they make an immature browser seem equal to other browser, at least to the unsophisticated portion of the customer base.

      This is not to say that Google is not catching up fast, just that they are focusing on version numbers in their add copies, while primarily fixing bugs in actuality.

      Compare this to firms that are actually trying to deliver a useful feature set to customers, rather than just focusing on metrics that have long been shown to be meaningless. Firefox is happy at 3.6 Safari is happy at 5. Opera, which may have been around longer than google itself, is only at 10.63. These are people who deliver useful browser.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by rm999 ( 775449 )

        I'm confused, are you saying the lower (version #)/(number of years out) a browser is, the better? Are you saying Chrome isn't a useful browser?

        I don't primarily use Chrome, but I respect it as a browser and consider it fully functional/useful.

      • I said this before and I will say this again. Google, just like MS, is playing the version game so they make an immature browser seem equal to other browser, at least to the unsophisticated portion of the customer base.

        How is Chrome immature?

        Google's explanation is that shorter development cycles mean that they won't have to wait as long if some new feature missed the feature freeze.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by DragonWriter ( 970822 )

        I said this before and I will say this again. Google, just like MS, is playing the version game

        What Google is doing is applying Lean Software Development [wikipedia.org] principles to eliminate waste and deliver useful features more quickly to customers.

      • Re:7.0? Really? (Score:4, Interesting)

        by BigCatRik ( 1209068 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2010 @07:40PM (#33968196) Homepage
        Blender -- current version is 2.49b (after 12 years) and the complete rewrite with new interface will be 2.5x, not 3.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by thePowerOfGrayskull ( 905905 )

      Why isn't it 6.x? Does this mean in 6 weeks they'll give us 8.0? Whatever happened to using the numbers AFTER the decimal point, especially for releases that concentrate mostly on bug-fixes?

      Did you ever wonder at how arbitrary such numbering schemes are? To the end user, a new version is a new version. They either have to download an update or they don't. (Mac or Ubuntu take the version numbering to extremes by giving new versions get fancy animal names. Not a bad idea, really...)

    • Why isn't it 6.x? Does this mean in 6 weeks they'll give us 8.0? Whatever happened to using the numbers AFTER the decimal point, especially for releases that concentrate mostly on bug-fixes?

      They already are. They sometime issue security fixes (and, more rarely, urgent bug fixes) as only bumping the build number.

      As for the 6.0/7.0/8.0, well, it's simply Google's way of doing it. For what it's worth, Google use to refer their releases as "milestones".

      I don't think they look at version numbers as you do.

  • Every 6 weeks (Score:4, Insightful)

    by commodore64_love ( 1445365 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2010 @01:24PM (#33963108) Journal

    So by the time we reach the end of 2011, we'll be on Chrome 16???

    What's the point of all these frequent releases? Maybe I ought to give this browser a try... but Firefox and seaMonkey have served me well since I quit Mozilla Netscape, so I'm inclined not to change. ("If it ain't broke...")

    • The reason for the frequent releases is that instead of x.1 or x.2 releases for major features, they do a whole new version number. Most projects will use such increments for minor additions and whole integers for rewrites or major overhauls. Its the other end of the spectrum from projects that have an integer release only once every decade and have version numbers extending in multiple decimals, like x.yy.zz.a.b.cccc and other inanely specific versions.

    • Re:Every 6 weeks (Score:4, Insightful)

      by theaveng ( 1243528 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2010 @02:26PM (#33963938)

      So by the time we reach the end of 2011, we'll be on Chrome 16???
      What's the point of all these frequent releases?

      How is this a "troll"? Looks like an honest question to me. Are questions no longer allowed on slashdot??? Apparently people seeking information are now considered undesirables.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by zuperduperman ( 1206922 )

      What's the point of all these frequent releases?

      My theory is that they are trying to scare the bejesus out of Microsoft and even Mozilla into doing more frequent releases themselves. The main thing holding back Google's entire strategy is that browsers aren't good enough yet. They want to take over the whole business market by moving it into the cloud using Google Apps. But they can't because browsers suck. So they make Chrome - a browser that doesn't suck. It's been helpful but what they really need is to influence the other browsers, and on

  • Updated (Score:5, Interesting)

    by neoshroom ( 324937 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2010 @01:27PM (#33963144)

    I read this news item and said to myself "Oh, Chrome 7 is out. Maybe I should go get it."

    Then I realized I already had it. It updated while I slept and I was reading the article in Chrome 7.

  • AdBlock (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Reason58 ( 775044 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2010 @01:27PM (#33963162)
    Yet it still doesn't have an equivalent to AdBlock Plus.

    And for the Chrome-heads who point out AdBlock [google.com], it is a good start but still nowhere near as effective. It lets many ads through, it still downloads and just hides a large chunk of ads, and it does not seem to stop flash ads at all.

  • Bookmark sidebar (Score:2, Insightful)

    by emgarf ( 727623 )
    Have they figured out yet that many users want a bookmark sidebar/pane as an available choice?

  • Chrome 7 (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Finally a version I can run on Windows 7

  • But my Chrome updated silently... I thought it was supposed to either ask me or let me know an update is available. Surprising.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by k_187 ( 61692 )
      The biggest problem that Chrome has is that there's no way (that I am aware of) to turn off the auto-updates. personally, it doesn't bother me that much, but I can understand if it does bother someone else. There should at least be the option to ask (which again there may be, but I couldn't find it).
    • If only more systems did this, the Internet would be a safer place.

      On the other hand, the first time an automatic update breaks something, there'll be hell to pay.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by lagfest ( 959022 )

      Yes, Chrome has always done this. Apparently it saves on the support budget to have a single version of chrome for all users (just like pretty much every other google product).

  • Where is print preview for God's sake? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by bogaboga ( 793279 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2010 @02:04PM (#33963612)

    Really, can someone convince me that asking for this feature is asking too much after all these Chrome iterations? What's really wrong with this feature that makes it unappealing to implement? Come on Google!

    • Baby steps (Score:2, Interesting)

      by MrBippers ( 1091791 )
      Chrome just got the print selection option (which I didn't realize was silently added until just now).

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by bogaboga ( 793279 )

        Where is it? Which version are you referring to? Can't wait to see this much wanted feature in my case.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Late Adopter ( 1492849 )
      On Linux, Chrome uses the native (GTK, I believe) Print dialog, which includes a Print Preview button.
  • Chrome is okay, but I hate the minimal control you have over things like cookies. It's either all or none with Chrome. Then you have the lack of a sidebar for bookmarks and the bookmark interface itself is very unintuitive at best. There are other gripes as well, but those can mostly be solved with using various extensions.

    Other than that, I like Chrome for its speed.

  • Interesting, Debian has chromium-browser (the brand-stripped chrome that lacks some of the phone-home features) in its experimental repository as 7.0.544.0~r61416-1 [debian.org] while Google's apt repository is featuring 7.0.517.41-r62167 as both beta and stable (unstable has moved to 8.0.552.5-r62886). Unless I'm mistaken, those version numbers are composed of [version]~[VCS revision]-[package version] and chromium-browser's versions are pinned to their equivalent google-chrome version. That makes the current version

  • I just installed, and I think it made Chrome my default browser without asking me.

    Did anyone else have this occur?
    • It shouldn't unless they are violating their stated principles. [google.co.in] Of course, they ARE violating their stated principles at least a little bit (google's updater hard to disable/etc) but this is the first I have heard of them hijacking the default browser.
      • I could be mistaken... but there was really nothing for me to click on, re: "Do you want to change your default browser".

        I did not have Chrome installed, and then installed it. (though it has previously been on this computer)

        Don't take my word for it... just wondered if anyone else had experienced this.
        • I found what the issue was. The website has, on the Terms of Service page, a checkbox for "Make Chrome my default browser". This is checked by default. Like most users I just clicked "accept" on the TOS to move on and didn't notice that.

          My fault.

    • Yes, that's been annoying me. I installed Chromium on my shiny new Ubuntu Maverick rather than Chrome, and it seems to work there.

  • I'm more excited about "Facebook Disconnect", the new Chrome extension from Google. I'm hoping that a similar extension follows for Firefox and the other browsers.

  • Does anyone else have a problem with the ugly fonts in Chromium in ever since Ubuntu Lucid came out? It was the same in recent Chromes, which is why I have the version pinned to 5.0.342.7-r42476 .

    The problem is that recent Chromiums seem to not use the specified font (DejaVu sans or serif), and instead have a really thin, unreadable font which you have to Ctrl++ many times to be readable, which then widens the web page beyond the browser width.

    Anybody else encounter this?

  • Where is the MathML (the official W3C mark-up language for mathematics) support?

    Firefox has rendered MathML quite well for years now. Google's explanation was that "we will support MathML when webkit does". This was an annoying response, since a $200 billion dollar corporation with 20,000 geniuses as employees could certainly contribute the resources to webkit to add MathML in short order. But now webkit has got MathML implemented! And we have a new release of Chrome! So where is the MathML?

    I have always fo

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