Google Chrome hits version 5, brings stability to Mac and Linux

You've been biding your time, enduring the evils of Firefox, Safari, Opera and perhaps even Internet Explorer (dare we speak its name), slowly summoning your courage to give Google's alternative a try. Well, kiddo, we've got good news and bad. The good news is that if your box lovingly depicts fruit or a well-dressed penguin, you'll no longer get short shrift: Chrome 5 is out of beta and stable across Mac and Linux for the first time, with browser sync and a host of new HTML5 functionality to boot. The bad news is that Chrome has some quirks of its own... but hey, let's not spoil the experience -- no matter what platform you try it on, the WebKit browser is definitely speedy. Those flyin' french fries aren't just for show.

[Nitesh Posted May 26th 2010 11:35AM]

They still didin't fix the API that stops ad blocking extensions from blocking ads before they load and render. Intstead they wait until the ads are there and then just turn them invisible. Annoying waste of bandwidth and CPU time. ABP on Firefix blocks before they load.

[duckhunt Posted May 26th 2010 11:37AM]

Chrome looks great, but I'm addicted to my live bookmarks in FF. As soon as Chrome supports this feature, I'll probably switch.

[Nimer55 Posted May 26th 2010 11:38AM]

I use chrome, and am looking forward to this update with flash. This new engine will not have a huge affect on desktops, since most sites load instantly after they are downloaded, but 30 percent faster rendering is reall useful for mobile devices.

[zsmorr Posted May 26th 2010 11:49AM]

Chrome just isn't for me. I don't much care for the UI, and the only real advantage to it is its speed.. which is still slower than Opera (in my tests anyways). But Firefox is still my browser of choice for now.

[OriginalJosh Posted May 26th 2010 12:09PM]

awesome, glad this is finally out, need to sync my bookmarks across computers

[JMG Posted May 26th 2010 1:04PM]

CHROME for Mac DOESN'T SUPPORT OFFLINE FOLDERS IN GOOGLE APP'S. This is their own apps. I love Chrome however had to switch to Firefox because they support Google Apps offline folders. Keep it in Beta until it really works seamlessly guys. If I cannot use offline folders then I have to use MS Office. Isn't your point not to use MS Office.

[Shooter McGavin Posted May 26th 2010 2:16PM]

I prefer Opera but Chrome is a close second.

[drudometkin Posted May 26th 2010 3:06PM]

Let me know when they add live RSS like in firefox. That is when I will switch.

[Tatoniss Posted May 26th 2010 7:01PM]

The problem with chrome is that each browser download has a unique id code so they can track you, and everything typed into the address field is sent to google. Also in my experience flash is horrible on chrome and a CPU hog. This is the latest mac os x version I cant speak for windows and Linux. Chrome is fast but i don't like giving up my privacy for it.

[Helblaze Posted May 27th 2010 11:37AM]

Firefox 3.7pre ftw

i tried chrome fails to compair to ff, however I take it over IE anyday.

[davewils55 Posted May 28th 2010 4:14AM]

I'm a chrome extensions developer... You can use all of my extensions in windows, linux and mac... Check them out at my website, and see reviews of some of my favorite extensions too... http://sites.google.com/site/developerdave1