Google releases Chrome 10 stable, improves JavaScript performance

Google Chrome 10.0.648.127 on Mac OS X. Just over one month after the previous stable channel release, Google has issued version 10 of the Chrome web browser into the stable channel. This major update to the WebKit-based browser was previously only available in the Beta channel and moves the full version number up to 10.0.648.127.

According to Google Chrome developer Jason Kersey, the latest stable version of Chrome features a protective sandbox for the built-in Adobe Flash Player plug-in on Windows systems and a new "Crankshaft" version of the V8 JavaScript engine – the Crankshaft compilation infrastructure for V8 uses runtime information to see which parts of the code would benefit the most from optimisation. The developers say that this technique is mainly useful in large JavaScript programs; short scripts, such as those used by the SunSpider benchmark, do not reportedly benefit much.

Other changes include new settings pages that now open in a tab, rather than a dialogue box, support for background WebApps and GPU Accelerated Video, as well as the addition of a new webNavigation extension API. The password sync feature, part of Chrome Sync, is now also enabled by default.

The update also addresses a total of 25 security vulnerabilities in the browser, a majority of which are rated as 'high-risk' by Google. The security issues range from memory corruption problems to script handling, crashing bugs, text rendering and same origin bypass holes. As usual, further details of the vulnerabilities are being withheld until "a majority of users are up-to-date with the fix". All users are encouraged to update to the latest release as soon as possible.

More details about the release can be found in a post on the Google Chrome Releases blog. Chrome 10.0.648.127 is available to download for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux from google.com/chrome. Users who currently have Chrome installed can use the built-in update function by clicking Tools, selecting About Google Chrome and clicking the Update button.

See also:

• Speedier, simpler and safer: Chrome’s basics get even better, a Google Blog post.

(crve)