Google Chrome celebrates version 2 release with autofill, fast-paced video

We know you've been avoiding Chrome because it puts your most visited sites on a display the size of the JumboTron in Times Square, and we don't blame you. You don't need the folks in Accounts Receivable knowing every detail of your life (including all the time you spend in the Cat Fancy online forums). Well, you're in luck! Google's infamous browser is now officially out of beta, and has been designated version two -- and among the improvements is a feature that allows you to remove those pesky thumbnails from the browser home screen. Also in store for faithful users are such key features as Form Autofill and Full Screen Mode. Sadly, neither Linux or Mac users get to join the party just yet -- but we'll let you know as soon as that changes. Check out the video after the break.

[Level 5 @ May 22nd 2009 10:53AM]

And most important to me, CLICK WHEEL SCROLLING! Time to flip the finger to Firefox.

[Damo @ May 22nd 2009 11:43AM]

Still doesn't work with my Synaptics touchpad scrolling... :-(

[andy b @ May 22nd 2009 12:09PM]

It works for me, didn't to begin with but it does now.

I love chrome. Only use firefox when i want to stumble now

[garrenteed @ May 22nd 2009 12:12PM]

I have a synaptics touchpad and the scrolling works fine what's up with that? I want to be able to right click and set a pic as desktop background. Right now I save the file then go to its file location and set it as background, dumb.

[alexicov @ May 22nd 2009 4:32PM]

mouse gestures or GTFO

[mike @ May 22nd 2009 6:06PM]

your laptop doesn't have 2 finger scrolling? sorry bout that.. ;)

[m3tric @ May 22nd 2009 7:52PM]

zomfg I love Chrome

[OC Technophile @ May 22nd 2009 10:54AM]

looks good but no support for firefox extensions yet. some of those are manditory on some of my work. good alternative to FF though.

[Juaquin @ May 22nd 2009 1:48PM]

No adblock, no download.

[musback @ May 22nd 2009 2:48PM]

@ Juachine (or something)

Amen to that. Even if they just install something like it (write own filter) and block javascripts by default except if u approve...--> I'm a happy user.

for now it's still the somewhat loggy firefox. But i love it so much :D

[r3loaded @ May 22nd 2009 2:48PM]

www.adsweep.org

[Oli D @ May 22nd 2009 2:53PM]

google makes its money selling ads, what would possibly drive them to block them?

[Juaquin @ May 22nd 2009 3:38PM]

I'm not saying Google should build its own adblock. I'm saying they should support extensions, at which point people can choose to make an adblock extension.

[Joe @ May 23rd 2009 9:54AM]

r3loaded:

Thank you so much! I could cry... No more ads in Opera and Chrome!

[Sporkinum @ May 26th 2009 2:05PM]

Adsweep has a couple of problems. It only hides the ads, but they are still downloaded which means you are still being tracked and still wasting bandwidth. The other, is that it is not trivial to add new filters to it. It takes a lot of work.

Adblock actually keeps the offending cruft from downloading.

[gamuthound @ May 22nd 2009 10:55AM]

That hair is bothering me.

[bootareen @ May 22nd 2009 12:47PM]

I hate the way he smirks at his 'joke' when he talks about autofill.

[peepeepants @ May 22nd 2009 4:30PM]

He has killed..... And he will kill again.

[Caveman @ May 22nd 2009 10:55AM]

Sweet! I just upgraded to version 2. Love Chrome.

[AMiSH PiRATE @ May 22nd 2009 1:41PM]

Chrome v2. So easy, even a caveman can upgrade.

[alexster404 @ May 22nd 2009 2:52PM]

Chrome v2. So easy, even a caveman and a amish pirate can talk about upgrading.

[ChrisTheFeral @ May 22nd 2009 8:38PM]

Chrome v2. So easy, even a caveman, a amish pirate AND a 404 error page can talk about upgrading.

[AMiSH PiRATE @ May 23rd 2009 2:52AM]

c-c-c-combo breaker!!!!!!!

[webon @ May 22nd 2009 10:57AM]

cat fancy? more like engade.... something ... shhhh

[Brian @ May 22nd 2009 11:14AM]

Engadget, slickdeals, and gmail are the top three at my office...

I'm glad I can get rid of the evidence, now.

[tmfan @ May 22nd 2009 12:13PM]

The most visited feature is probably not good for people like me who's number one site would not be allowed to those under 18.

[joseph nickson @ May 22nd 2009 10:58AM]

those are just basic things, they should have waited and had version 2 as the first release, instead of rushing it as half finished.

[cayton @ May 22nd 2009 11:11AM]

Hindsight is 20/20.


The way they did it allowed for user feedback, which they then implemented. That is the point of beta testing.

[Mark @ May 22nd 2009 11:23AM]

They did. Thus the word: beta.

[cg0def @ May 22nd 2009 11:41AM]

hum dudes most software starts with version 1 and not 2. Plus I fail to see how this is a complete release when the plugins are still missing and we were promised to have them by the final release. Just so we are on the same page webkit ( upon which chrome is based ) has all the *new* features and they have been there since pretty much day one. So yeah it's nice that google has finally came out with a non beta release BUT there is hardly anything newsworthy here.

[Maddy @ May 22nd 2009 1:18PM]

IIRC, the drama surrounding release of Chrome v1 beta was that their chrome tech talk document got leaked online and then they just thought that cat's out of the bag already and just went ahead and released it. I think they wanted to wait a little longer to release it, but were forced to release it because of the leak.

[moush @ May 22nd 2009 10:07PM]

@Mark

Yeah what a smart move, never release an official version of anything until 10 years later and you know the bugs are all taken care of. What a great concept. Isn't gmail still in beta?

[Beaner @ May 22nd 2009 10:58AM]

A buddy at work was telling me about this. He says he can't beleive how fast it is now.

[Byrdman @ May 22nd 2009 11:00AM]

Chrome has been out of beta for months now.

[ash @ May 22nd 2009 11:20AM]

But then it was put back into beta.

[kesherz @ May 22nd 2009 11:51AM]

Chrome 1 has been out of beta for months. Chrome 2 has been in beta, and is now out of it.

[Sam @ May 22nd 2009 11:00AM]

Updated this morning and its been a real pain in the arse since. Everytime i go to organise the tabs they end up detaching themselves from the main window and its now near impossible to reattach them unless i slow down significantly the speed of my mouse.

The snap to up/down/left/right feature doesnt appear to be working either throwing the tabs out of the viewable area of the screen and having to move them back with the keyboard. Pain.

[alcom4x @ May 22nd 2009 11:02AM]

Hope this fixes instability issues when I try to download multiple files at once ( tabs stick to the mouse, causing tearing )..

[Korpsaw @ May 22nd 2009 11:02AM]

I have been a faithful user since day 0001. I love to see the developments in such a complex area. Internet Navigation. Congrats Google!

[aaron @ May 22nd 2009 11:02AM]

I really like chrome but I wish they would have added an aero peek feature for windows 7..... both firefox and chrome still dont support aero peek.

[Ryan @ May 22nd 2009 11:14AM]

You want them to implement features for an OS which isn't even released yet?

[foaf @ May 22nd 2009 2:36PM]

Yes, just like nVidia release drivers for a OS that isn't released yet. Don't tell me Google hasn't downloaded Win 7 RC

[Traken @ May 22nd 2009 11:43AM]

@Ryan: Why not? The Windows 7 SDK has been out for at least as long as the RC. What company doesn't want to be the first to say "Fully Supported in Windows 7"?

[Ryan @ May 22nd 2009 11:56AM]

Well, sure, it makes sense to do it, but it also makes sense to not do it. I guess I just don't understand complaining that they "still" don't have it, when W7 isn't even complete yet.

[Eh @ May 22nd 2009 1:02PM]

Then maybe youll understand the complaining when Windows 7 *is* released and they *still* dont have a properly working browser for it.

The main reason for releasing pre-release versions is so that there is driver and software support when it finally gets released, do you think Apple releases beta versions of the next OSX at a developer's conference for bug testing? They want them to get their shit working and ready BEFORE the new OS comes out. The developers that wait until after the final product comes out to start getting their asses in gear are idiots, or enjoy the hate mail from pissed off users who just bought a new OS.

[Look_Around_You @ May 22nd 2009 11:07AM]

It so weird how I didnt even know I had Chrome since I made all of the web pages I view application shortcuts on my desktop.

btw, does the browser still update on its own?

[Mark @ May 22nd 2009 11:33AM]

For me, I had to go to the little wrench in the top right corner and click "about Chrome" and then it checked and found the update. They really need to make an easier/more obvious way of doing that.

[Mr. Picklesworth @ May 22nd 2009 11:09AM]

Heheh, my Chromium daily build on Ubuntu has been doing form autofill and full screen mode for a while now :P
And it has little icons to show when stuff appearing below the address bar is a search, a bookmark or a history item.

(It also has this exciting feature where it crashes every five minutes, but they're removing that).

[petercockroach @ May 22nd 2009 11:09AM]

A2DP!!!

[petercockroach @ May 22nd 2009 11:11AM]

oops...1Password has failed me. What I meant to say was that I like how the guy's mouth moves but other than that, nothing else does. I don't think he blinks for during the entire segment!