Google Chrome 8 goes stable -- brings App support, PDF viewer, expanded sync options

Google has just released Chrome 8 to the Stable channel. The updated version is already making its way to a computer near you and will bring your Chrome installation up to version 8.0.552.215. This version is also being released to the Beta channel, since the previous version there was 8.0.552.210. It looks like the Beta and Stable channels will host identical releases for a while, until Google decides to take Chrome 9 to Beta.

Making its debut on the Stable channel with this release is Chrome's built-in PDF viewer, that uses Chrome's sandboxing and has been available in the Beta channel for a while now. Also straight from the Beta channel comes support for the upcoming Web apps that Google will host in the Chrome Web Store, when that launches. Sync options have also been expanded to include apps.

The Flags menu has also made it into Chrome 8 Stable, complete with (possibly unstable) options for tabbed settings, side tabs, Google Instant Search, automatically disabling outdated plugins, cross-site scripting protection, GPU accelerated compositing, WebGL 3D canvas rendering, remoting, and cloud print.

Chrome 8 also has over 800 bug fixes and stability improvements added compared to the Chrome 7. So the update is clearly worth it. And in any case, because of Google's update mechanism, you'll be getting it automagically even if you do nothing. If you're itching for the new features, just click on the Wrench > About Google Chrome > Update Now.

Google Chrome 8 goes stable -- brings App support, PDF viewer, expanded sync options originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 17:32:00 EST.