04 February 2011, 10:52

Google releases Chrome 9.0 stable

Chrome 9.0.597.84 on Mac OS X. Previously only available in the Beta channel, Google has released version 9 of the Chrome web browser into the stable channel. This major update to the WebKit-based browser now brings the Chrome Web Store to all users in the United States and features the addition of support for WebGL.

Now enabled by default, WebGL is a royalty free specification that is essentially a JavaScript binding to OpenGL ES 2.0 (Open Graphics Library for Embedded Systems) that allows browsers to display hardware-accelerated 3D graphics without the need for a plug-in – various WebGL demos are provided. Additionally, support for Google Instant search, the company's new search enhancement that provides live updated search results as users input their queries, is included.

The update, which moves the full version number up to 9.0.597.84, also addresses nine security vulnerabilities, including one rated as critical and two as high risk by Google – $1,000 was awarded to Aki Helin from the Oulu University Secure Programming Group (OUSPG) for discovering each of the high risk issues as part of Google's vulnerability reward programme. The security issues range from a critical race condition in audio handling to crashes caused when printing in the PDF event handler and image loading problems, as well as minor sandbox leaks.

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.

Further information about the latest stable release can be found in a post on the Google Chrome Blog. Chrome 9.0.597.84 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.

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