Tonight is the first night Google has rolled out updates for Google Chrome that begin their ‘New Chrome Interface’ project. Google has been planning to do this for a while and because Google updates their browser so quietly, many people are surprised to find new features.
An update to Chrome 15 for me and Chrome 14 for some have brought a much more modernized, simple interface to the “New Tab” page. You now have many options to customize your pages and much more. Not only does this update do that, but it also brings a few new features for Mac users, specifically those running OS X Lion 10.7 because it adds a full screen feature.
Below is an example of what the improved “New Tab” page looks like. Keep in mind that yours may look slightly different depending on personal settings.
By dragging a page to the bottom of the “New Tab” page, you can create a new category and by clicking twice below the rectangle, you can name this new area. You can also rename areas by doing this. To delete a page or website permanently, click and hold it and drag it to the bottom right to the delete option.
But other than the new beauty features added to Chrome, some security fixes have been added. The latest update comes with 32 security fixes, 15 of which are critical. Some of these are products of the ongoing Chrome hacking contests, and Google reportedly paid up bounties of up to $14,337 for this release.
For most people, Chrome will update automatically, but if you are not sure yours has updated correctly, click the wrench in the top right corner and look for “About Google Chrome”. Click that and see what version you have. If you are seeing these features in Chrome 14, you are fine but I may be using Chrome BETA and therefor, not everybody has the same version. If you are version 13 or lower, you did not receive updates.