Google Releases Developer Preview of Chrome for Linux
by Lisa Hoover - Jun. 05, 2009Comments (7)- Related Blog Posts
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After months of waiting, Linux (and Mac) users woke to the happy news this morning that Google is inching ever closer to a usable version of its Chrome Web browser for Linux. Usable is the keyword here because the new developer version Google released last night is anything but. At least it gives us a peek, though, at what to expect when the much-anticipated browser is finally ready for prime time.
Google obviously knew people would be excited about the new release and want to give it a whirl, but the development team is pretty clear it wants casual users and looky-loos to cool their heels until the final version is available. Of course, the FOSS community sees words like "unpredictable," "incomplete," "crashing," and, "DON'T DOWNLOAD"Â as more of a challenge than a warning so there's been plenty of trial today -- and surprisingly little error.
Computerworld's Steven J. Vaughn-Nichols says, "So, in brief, here's what doesn't work on this alpha version of Chrome: plug-ins; media-players like Flash; printing; security settings; Firefox bookmark importing, and a host of other problems." Despite all its issues, Vaughn-Nichols says he "loves" Chrome and is particualrly impressed with its speed.
Ryan Paul of Ars Technica reports that "[Chrome's] performance on Linux is good. It loads pages swiftly and it starts up almost instantly. Maintaining that performance advantage as the program matures is going to be the key to making Chrome a compelling option relative to other native WebKit browsers." Paul calls it an important acheivement by the team that could help draw in more project contributors.
I installed the Chrome developer release on Ubuntu 9.04 and saw roughly the same performance as Vaughn-Nichols and Paul. As expected, not very many features worked properly, but it was far from the experience Google led me to expect. Chrome was quick, fairly stable as far as alpha products go, and no sparks or smoke shot out of my computer's case.
Settings to customize and control the browser:
 Settings to control the current page:
Options and preferences:
To say Chrome for Linux is still raw would be an understatement, but it's fun to get a look at what's to come and a reminder that Google hasn't forgotten about the FOSS community. It will likely be months yet before a stable version is available but if you're not afraid of an alpha release, this version of Chrome will keep you busy in the meantime.
