Just over four months after the release of version 3.0, Google released the final version of Google Chrome 4.0 for download.
The two biggest highlights of the new version, compared to 3.0, are the standard support for extensions and the possibility to synchronize favorites.
Support for extensions was what many users lacked to make Chrome their default browser. They, which won over Firefox users, can now be found by the hundreds (more than 1,800 today) on official repository Chrome extensions.
Among the most used extensions, we highlight:
- Google Mail Checker: adds an icon, next to the address bar, that displays how many unread messages are in your Gmail inbox (works, too, for Google Apps);
- IE Tab: allows viewing of pages, within a Chrome tab, using Internet Explorer;
- AdBlock: blocks ads displayed on web pages;
- Google Translate: made available by Google, allows the translation of entire pages into the selected language;
- Chromed Bird: Twitter client for Chrome.
Before someone throws the first stone, claiming that “it’s all copy of Firefox“, I see nothing more obvious than a developer, seeing the success of its extension in a popular browser, and having the opportunity to adapt it to an emerging browser, do it.
In addition to the extensions, the favorites synchronizer is the other highlight of version 4.0.
The synchronizer allows you to share the same favorites among several computers. If you use Chrome, for example, on your company’s notebook and computer, you can keep them in sync all the time. Adding a new favorite at work, when you turn on your notebook, the automatically added favorite will be displayed. This means that you won’t have to manually recreate the favorite every time you turn on your computers. Bookmarks are stored in your Google account.
For users using Google Chrome on Linux, the extensions are only available in the beta version of the browser. For Mac users, just wait for now. Google promises, soon, a beta version with support for extensions.
Google Chrome version 4.0 can be downloaded at official browser website.
