Jalaj P. Jha Technical & Miscellaneous Ramblings

Google Chrome Beta No More

Did the title sound weird? Yes it should, if you thought Google has ended the it's Chrome product. It's just that it is now Google Chrome 1.0 removing the Beta label.

Just a few days back someone asked me if a stable release of Google Chrome (i.e. not a Beta) is available? I smilingly replied "Google has it's products in Beta for at least an year or two, adding more and more features until the product turns out into a master-piece. Since, Google Chrome just unveiled on Sept 3, it's far from getting it's beta status removed."

Today, I was shocked to read at Google Operating System (Unofficial News Blog) that Google Chrome 1.0 Released... Was it a joke? Not really! I followed to Official Google Blog that said the same thing.

I think that Google Chrome is the first Google Product to get out of Beta in just 15 releases. Isn't it? Why? Because the Sky is High! and to reach to the top in the Browser Market this product needs to be bundled with systems sold by major companies who shy away due to Google Chrome being in Beta, as explained by TechCrunch.

What does this mean to us? Well to users with Operating System Configurations lower than WinXP with SP2, "nothing" as they still have to live without Chrome. To users already using Chrome it would be the same product in new wrapper (and minor fixes), and to web developers out there who need to maintain cross-browsers compatibility in their work (assuming they care for stable non-beta products only), an additional browser to fight with.

By the way, the Google Chrome Home Page at http://google.com/chrome still show an image showing "Google Chrome Beta" logo... Seems that they were too busy in the release to change the image.